Through the Rift
by JBoogle
Summary: Something strange is in the works, as the crack in Amy's wall reopens and the TARDIS is pulled through to a parallel world. A world that the Doctor thought he'd never see again..  Set after LKH with some crossing timeline jumbles
1. Chapter 1

_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Doctor Who. Doctor Who is © BBC_

_**Author's Notes:** First and foremost I'd like to apologize to any of my followers for my Shanghaied fic with Doctor Who and Firefly. I haven't forgotten about it, I've been having a bit of writers block lately due to this fan fiction here! I've had this idea in my head for some time now, so I figured I'd just write it out now before I go crazy waiting. Anyway, I've been wanting to write out a story of what might happen if the Doctor, River, and Rose would meet...and then I thought to myself, what would happen if Amy and Rory were along for the ride as well? :-D So sit tight and enjoy the ride as we venture back Through the Rift to join Rose Tyler in the parallel universe! I'm more of a Doctor/River fan, which is why this has been uploaded into the Doctor/River area! I also wanted to take a look into their developing relationship, and after LKH...who could resist? C-;_

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><p>It'd been years since the Doctor and Rose had last seen each other. He'd given her a new planet. A new family. And a fresh start with the human version of himself. It took her some time before she finally accepted John Smith as <em>her<em> Doctor. She'd spent some time still trying to figure out a way to get back to "her" world, when she finally came to realize she loved the man she'd promised to spend the rest of her life with.

He was the same person, just with a human body. Though her heart still ached every now and then when she remembered back to the adventures she'd had with the real Doctor, she still knew she would never leave the man she was with. He loved her, and she loved him.

Though, that didn't stop her from wondering what the Time Lord she once new was doing in the world she'd left long ago.

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><p>"Doctor!" An alarming loud voice bellowed in the console room of the TARDIS. A very <em>Scottish<em> voice at that. "Doctor!"

"Kind of busy at the moment, Pond. Can it wait? It can? Oh wonderful!" The Doctor's voice replied from beneath the controls. He'd been rewiring a few items, just for fun, when he was so rudely interrupted by the fiery red head.

"Oy! Whatever it is you're doing, you just about gave Rory and me heart attacks! What's with changing the layout of our room,_ while we're in it! _And back to bunk beds at that!" She stalked down to where he was, hands on her hips and ready to fight.

"Don't think I don't know what you two were up to, or about to be up to. No more Time Lord babies from you two. Not for a _long_ while! One's enough, and I'm already having one hell of a time trying to keep up with her." He pointed an accusing finger at Amy.

"Well excuse me for being married!" She huffed. "I'll have you know we weren't even doing anything, Mr. _Thinks_-He-Knows-It-All."

"Oh really?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, _really_!" Amy pulled a face and crossed her arms. She was about to continue when a thought dawned on her and she smirked at the Doctor. "OH, I see what it is."

"What? See what?" He asked slightly taken aback. He knew when Amy had something up her sleeve, and he didn't like not knowing what it was.

"It's fine to admit you know. Nothing wrong, everyone goes through it at some point." She patted the Doctor on the shoulder before turning to go back up the stairs.

"What? Goes through what? I don't know what you're even talking about." The Doctor asked, somewhat nervous to hear her answer. He followed her quickly up the stairs, ready for whatever response she had waiting.

"You're just jealous." She stated flatly.

"_Excuse_ me?" He asked baffled. "I am not jealous!" His voice cracked as he spoke.

"It's ok to admit, you know. You're simply jealous that Rory and I can do it whenever we'd like, while you and River haven't done anything yet other than kiss." The red head said triumphantly. She'd been first to catch on to how the Doctor acted around River. It reminded her of when she'd first met him back as a little girl. Back when she still called him her raggedy Doctor. She'd been head over heels for him, a school girl crush gone terribly awry. There was even a point in time when she had Rory dress up as him. She shook her head at the memory.

"Again, _excuse me_?" The Doctor's face flushed a bright red in a matter of seconds. He turned away to try and hide it, but it wasn't quick enough.

"Aha! I knew it! I was just bluffing at first you know, but now I have proof!" Amy began to laugh.

"What? NO! There's no sort of jealousy or, or, or sexual frustration between me and River. In fact there's nothing like that at all! We're just, uh, friends! Just friends! Nothing going on between us at all!" He tried to defend himself, failing more as he kept talking.

"I didn't say anything about sexual frustration, _Doctor_." The red head teased even more.

"Shut up, you know what I meant." He tried to compose himself some more, straightening his bow tie a bit.

"Uh huh, sure. And what about all that flirting you two do? And don't think I didn't notice you trying to cover up a very noticeable _problem_ during Berlin, when she had you pinned up against that desk." Amy tried to contain herself, but barely concealed giggles made their way out.

"Oh god, don't tell me you two are talking about Berlin?" Rory interrupted the two as he entered the room. He'd been in the general vicinity when he heard the two bickering. "You know Doctor, just because she's older than us, doesn't make it in any way right at all for you to even _think_ about doing anything with her. She's still our daughter." He turned to his wife to continue, "And _you_ don't encourage it! Have some more decency than that will you? She's our daughter, and she was just a baby not that long ago!"

"Sorry, I just figured, you know, get him embarrassed enough to change our room back to something without bunk beds." She whispered to her husband.

"I'm telling you there's nothing going on between us!" The Doctor continued, paying no attention to the whispering. "No sexual frustration, no _problem_, nothing at all!" The Doctor was slowly starting to realize there was no winning in the situation. He was about to continue when there was a familiar materialization sound and bright light that caught everyone's attention.

"What did you say about sexual frustration?" The familiar voice of the woman they'd been talking about filled the room, and the Doctor couldn't help but blush more. _Oh god, not now.._ He thought to himself. With his face covered with one hand, he could feel a headache starting at the back of his head. It was not turning into a good day at all.

"Perfect timing as always I see." He groaned as he slumped against the controls using his arms to hold him up.

"Hello Sweetie." River laughed. She removed her vortex manipulator and made her way up to where everyone else was. "So, again, what's with said frustration?" She teased. She had a suspicion as to what they were talking about, she knew Amy liked to tease the Doctor in order to get her way.

"It's nothing. Nothing at all." The Doctor tried to convince everyone, including himself.

"Yeah I'll say." Amy muttered under her breath. Rory elbowed her. "Ow, what was that for?"

"Like I said, she's our _daughter_. And _that's_ not something I want to hear." He gave an intense, 'don't you dare hurt my daughter' look to the Doctor before going over to give River a hug.

"Ah, I see. Finished Demons Run lately, have you?" River asked as she hugged her father back.

"And Berlin." The Doctor added, making sure to keep his back turned to everyone.

"Aha, explains the flustered look on your face then." She teased back. Although it wasn't her finest hours, what with killing him and all, she still admitted to having fun as she tortured him...in the more innuendo sort of way. During everything she wanted to finish her mission, what she'd been programmed for, but at the same time she enjoyed making him blush and causing...other sensations for him to endure. Once a tease, always a tease.

"Anyway, _Ponds_, go find your new room. Again. I just fixed it." He used his free hand to shoo them off.

"When did you do that?" They asked in unison.

"Just now." He whipped out his sonic screwdriver and held it in the air, the familiar whirring noise emanated from it. There was an electrical spark from below the console, then he put it back in his pocket. "Now, _go_." He sighed as he leaned forward against the console once more.

River chuckled to herself as she tried to conceal a smirk. "Oh, Doctor, stop fussing. It's all said and done with." She moved over to where he was and placed her hand over his to try and calm him down.

He merely looked down to where they were touching. The Doctor could feel his hearts starting to race as he thought of everything that had happened that day. His hands started to get a clammy feeling, and he couldn't help but recoil slightly from her touch, afraid she'd catch on too quickly.

The Doctor clapped his hands together and turned on his heels to face her, "Right, you're right! So down to more important matters. To who, or what, do I owe the pleasure of seeing you, Doctor Song?"

River's expression changed to one more serious as she spoke. "Don't get mad for crossing my own timeline, but I had to find you. You remember the crack from Amy's wall, yeah?"

"Of course I remember. I know you wouldn't cross your own timeline unless it was important. What's happened?" The Doctor's demeanor changed to one of more concern. He really hoped she wasn't about to say what he thought she would..

"I may be wrong, but I think it's opened again."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Doctor Who. Doctor Who © BBC_

_**Author's Note: **Alright I'm giving you the chance to voice what you'd like to see! So if there are any scenarios you'd like to see certain characters be put in, let me know! If it keeps them in character, and sounds interesting enough I may just add it in! ;-) I've already received some awesome feedback about what some people want to see on deviantArt, so I'd love to see what you all have in mind!_

_Also to clear things up again: This is definitely NOT a Doctor/Rose fic. It's a Doctor/River story, just with the twist of having Rose there as well. Just toying with how I think Rose would react to the new Doctor and his new life/companions! ;-)_

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><p>"What? How could that happen? Well, no I take that back. Whatever caused the TARDIS to explode is still happening at some point in time, so there technically <em>is<em> the possibility of it opening again. But that shouldn't be for a very very long time, hopefully long enough until the end of the universe. Or better yet, the possibility of it actually never happening again. Yes I like that one." The Doctor began pacing around the room. His shoes echoed on the glass floor as he did so.

"Doctor, there's something else. I've noticed some other..._things_. I don't know what else to call them. But take a look at this." River handed over some papers she'd brought with her.

He quickly snatched them up and began power reading through the documents, again and again until he had everything memorized. "But that doesn't make sense. That's...that's _impossible_. Where did you get these?" He ran his hands through his hair frantically trying to conjure up some rational explanation.

"I got them from a friend. Why? What's wrong?" River tried her best to keep a cool facade. Though she was having a hard enough time trying to with the Doctor's constant pacing.

"It's just...if what I'm reading is right, then it's opening up from a parallel world. And not just any parallel world. One that I've been to before. And one that's supposed to stay sealed up, forever." As he looked over at her, she felt chills run down her back. Something about the situation left a bad taste in both of their mouths.

They stayed in silence for a few minutes. "What should we do?" River finally spoke up.

"First and foremost is to figure out where it's coming from, and then hopefully we can figure out a way to close it. Again." The Doctor stood up straight and composed himself. "Best to round up your parents then. I'm sure they'll just be _thrilled_."

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><p>"So run that by me one more time." Rory was sitting in one of the chairs placed around the console. He scratched his head trying to wrap his brain around what the Doctor and River were saying. All that was registering for him was something complicated and 'timey whimey' as the Doctor would put it.<p>

The Doctor groaned, he hated explaining things to humans. "The crack from Amy's wall is reopening from a parallel world. What part don't you understand?"

"Well for one, I thought that you closed it when you flew the Pandorica into it." He folded his arms across his chest and slumped further into his seat. "I mean, how can it just reopen?"

The Doctor rubbed his temples as he felt another headache start up.

"We're not sure, which is why we're going to go and figure it out." River answered.

"Well yeah I got that part, but how?" Rory added.

"We need to fly as close as possible so we can scan it for more information. Hopefully not being pulled through in the process. In any case, I've found where it's originating from." The Doctor was already starting to plug in the coordinates as he continued trying to explain.

"Wait, but won't we get erased from time like it did before?" Amy moved out of the Doctor's way as he rounded to where she stood.

"From the readings it shows that it's nothing like before. Rifts in time and space aren't always the same. Some are good for pit stops, those are the ok ones that I use sometimes to refuel the TARDIS. Then there are kinds, like the one from your bedroom, will erase time. There's also those that stop time, or freeze it, if you will, in a specific location. The one that we're dealing with right now is different, and the same as the first one." The Doctor tried to explain in more human-friendly terms.

"Wait, how can it be the same and different?" Amy's brow furrowed and she took a seat next to her just as perplexed husband.

"If I'm correct, and I always am, then this one transports you to a different world. In this case a parallel world." He stopped what he was doing briefly to look at the two on the chair, and then back over to River. He was mentally asking for her help, but she just shrugged not knowing what else to say.

"So? What does that mean exactly? And I thought parallel worlds didn't exist?" Amy asked, her face took on an even more puzzled look. Rory sat forward putting his elbows on his knees and scratched his head. Nothing the Doctor was saying sounded even remotely sane, though he knew from past experience that the Time Lord didn't exactly take each day in a sane manner, always adding, '_Where's the fun in that!'_ when asked.

"If you cross over to a parallel world it tears the universe apart more and more each time you do it. Essentially it adds to the destruction of everything. So it both transports you, as well as tearing apart the universe. Either way it's bad. And we need to close it before it does anymore damage." He finished, running his hand through his hair trying to come up with an idea of what to do.

River looked at her parents and tried to give them her best reassuring smile, but she knew they could see through it. "We're not going to go through it, just scan it to figure out what caused it, and then figure out a way to close it back up again."

"Now enough talking, we need to get going, _now_!" The Doctor twisted a few knobs and pulled down one last lever. The engines started up in the TARDIS and the dematerialization noise echoed eerily in the room.

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><p>Ever since the Doctor took her on the many adventures, Rose never wanted to go back to the 9 to 5 life of working in retail. Which is what kept her working at the parallel version of Torchwood. Instead of spending her time trying to find a way back, she was dedicated to the world she lived in and spent her days in the office making sure that it was safe from any outside threats. Luckily the world was more advanced with technology, which was a plus when it came to defending it from other alien attacks.<p>

As she went to her station, she began to read over some files that had been dropped off the previous night. There had been some reports of a couple energy rifts popping up around the world at the same time. They were fairly small, and would go away after a few hours or so. However, each day they merged, as though they were coming together to become an entire entity in and of itself. It also showed that each day they would last longer than the previous day.

A sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach formed. She could tell that there was something wrong with the readings. The more powerful they became, the more people were in danger. Immediately she picked up her phone and began dialing.

"Oh come on pick up already." She sat back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling, impatiently waiting.

Eventually she heard the click of the phone as it was picked up, along with some clatter and cursing on the other end before, "Yes? Hello? Rose is that you?"

"John! Finally! Hey I think you'd better come down here. I just got some more readings from those rifts I was telling you about. If what it says is true, then they've predicted that the next one should be today. And this time it's going to be the final version of it."

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><p>"Doctor! What's happening? I know the rides are generally bumpy, but wouldn't you say this is a bit more than usual?" Amy yelled over to the Doctor as she tried to hold herself in place.<p>

The second they took off it felt as though the TARDIS had been pulled left and right involuntarily. The Doctor scrambled around the controls trying his best to keep the movements steady. "Yes, I realize that! Which is why I'm trying to fix it!" He hollered back. "River I don't need help, I've got everything under control!"

"You call _this_ control, Sweetie?" River shot an annoyed look at him. She swore he was too obsessed with his silly pride to accept help from anyone. She continued to pull levers and flick switches the Doctor had missed in an attempt to stop the roller coaster effect.

"Yes!" He yelled over to her. Another jolt and he was sent tumbling to the floor. "Ok, no. Not really."

River rolled her eyes. _'He can be so daft at times.'_ She thought.

"Doctor, why do I get the feeling that we're not exactly going to be scanning the rift like you said we would?" Rory asked, barely keeping his legs from buckling.

"Ah, yes. About that..." The Doctor pulled himself up, turning on the screen as he did. He turned a few knobs before it pulled up readings of what was happening. "Oh, not good at all. Bad, bad, very bad." He read it twice before looking over to Amy and Rory, then back at River.

"Doctor? What does it say?" River was the first to speak. Smoke began to bellow out of the middle of the console causing everyone to cough. "Doctor!"

He coughed some more before continuing, "It seems as though we're automatically being pulled through it! I'd tell you more, but the screen stopped working."

"Can't you do your weird alien Time Lord thing and figure out what it is?" Amy asked looking desperately for a good sign.

"Time Lord alien thing?" The Doctor looked at her and furrowed his brow. She made no sense at times, especially when she was worried.

"Oh never mind!" Amy answered.

The Doctor rushed over to where River was and hit some more switches, which caused some more sparks to fly about the room.

"What are you doing?" She looked at him puzzled.

"Deleting some extra rooms! Maybe it'll help—" Before he could finish his sentence, there was another large jolt.

In order to keep standing, everyone had to grab hold of the nearest thing to them. Amy had both hands on one of the railings, while Rory helped hold her up. Both had their eyes closed. River had used the controls to hold herself up, while the Doctor had been sent forward into the first thing in front of him. That, of course, being River.

He blushed profusely when he realized he had both his hands on her waist and was considerably close to her face. Had it not been for the fact they were being pulled through to a parallel world, with no control whatsoever, he would have enjoyed it a bit more. He was about to step away when a final tug to the TARDIS sent everyone toppling over.

As soon as they'd landed, which the Doctor hoped was the case, the lights drained and the whole room was black in a manner of seconds.

Amy groaned as she rolled over on to her back. "Please tell me that's it."

"I think I chipped my tooth on one of the railings." Rory chimed in.

"Least you didn't break your back on the way down. Owww..." His wife continued to complain.

"Let's not make this into a contest of who hurts more. I'm pretty sure it'd be a tie." He pinched the bridge of his nose.

The red head moved to sit up, then quickly went back to her previous position, "I think I'll just stay here for a bit actually. Give time for the rest of my body to adjust and all."

The two continued their conversation of who was in more pain, not paying attention to anything else.

On the opposite side of the console, the Doctor found himself in yet another awkward position. He hadn't had enough time to catch himself, so when he'd landed, he did so on top of River. He was propped up on his elbows, mere inches from her face, while his lower half straddled her. Her mess of hair tickled his nose as he breathed in.

"I, um, sorry. Lost my footing." He gulped and he could feel his cheeks getting hot again. It wasn't to say he didn't like the position he was in, on the contrary he was quite enjoying it. Though, he realized, he was enjoying it just a bit _too_ much. Which caused certain sensations to happen. Certain sensations that he really didn't need to get in the way of figuring out what had gone wrong.

River chuckled quietly so not to attract any unwanted attention, "Enjoying yourself are you?"

"Yea—I mean no. Definitely not. Why would I?" He knew he had to get up, but wanted to stay there for as long as possible to admire the scene.

"Well, for one, you haven't moved. Second, you can't keep your eyes off me." She teased as she batted her eyelashes innocently.

It was true, though. He wanted to stare at her forever if he could. Her eyes, her hair, her lips. Everything about her was perfect, and he wanted to take it all in.

"River...I—"

"Oy, I think that's enough from you two." Rory cut in, his arms were crossed and the Doctor dared not make him angry.

"Right, right, sorry!" The Doctor stood up fairly quick and backed away from both River and Rory. "Anyway, on to more important matters, it seems as though the TARDIS is drained. Which is to be expected. It does take lots of energy." He looked around the room, not really looking for anything in particular. "Well, we should let her do her thing while we figure out what caused the rift. So, first things first, everyone out of the TARDIS. Come on, quickly now!" He shooed everyone outside while he did a final glance around the room.

"Doctor?" River poked her head in from outside.

"Yes, right, I'm coming!" He strode over to her, closing the doors behind him and locking them as he did so.

When he turned to face everyone, he was met with another surprise for the day.

"Rose.."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who © BBC, I own nothing but this story!_

_**Author's Note:** Oooo hooo, what shall unfold? Things get more juicy next chapter, but here we finally have the meeting of everyone! ;-) Thanks to everyone who's reviewing so far! If you'd like to add input on what you'd like to see in the story, then feel free to let me know! This will be a fairly large story, so lots of time to add in extra situations you'd like to see the Doctor have to deal with!_

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><p><p>

By the time John had made it to Torchwood, Rose was already running out the front door.

"Took your time didn't you?" She grabbed his jacket and pulled him along with her as she ran down the street.

"Yeah, sorry, I got held up by the old lady down the street. Again. She likes to tell me how I remind her of her youth." He cringed and shook his head. "So you said this has something to do with the rift?" He asked, matching her speed.

"Yeah, the readings predicted it would be today that it would in its final form, and as soon as we started monitoring it, all the machines crashed. And it wasn't just a normal power outage crash, lots of things were blowing up. I was able to grab some papers that had the coordinates of where it would be happening." She fished the information out of her pocket and shoved them in John's hands.

"Seriously? Why's it always London? Better hurry up then!" He said as he put the papers in the pocket of his jacket.

They quickened their speed, rounding corners, almost running into people, and barely getting out of the way of cars. They had about 5 minutes until it hit full peak. One thing was for sure, the human Doctor still had a love for running.

The sky grew darker with each second, and thunder began to drown out other noises. As Rose looked up she could see lightening forming in the middle of the clouds. "That's strange." She continued to study the clouds. "The clouds, look at the clouds! It's like the lightening is only in the middle of the storm!" She pointed out as she looked back at John.

He was busy reading back through the documents, "I think that's right above where it's supposed to be, the rift I mean!" His eyes became more serious. "We need to hurry up!" He began running faster, taking the lead almost immediately.

"Hey wait up! John!" Rose tried to keep up with him, but only managed to keep a few feet behind him.

The closer they got to the middle of town, the darker the sky got. Lots of people were seen outside taking pictures on their cell phones, or running in the opposite direction. Just like the Earth Rose came from, the people in the parallel London knew when to run away from potential danger. And a giant lightening ball in the middle of dark swirling clouds was definitely a potential threat.

Suddenly there was a loud crack that echoed in the streets. The sky lit up a blue-white colour and when Rose looked up she saw a blur of dark blue fall out of the clouds. She barely had a chance to look at it before it was hidden behind a building. She looked down just in time to see John round another corner.

Using the last ounce of energy to sprint even faster, she was able to catch up with John. At first she didn't notice anything too strange, but when she looked up and saw the serious look on his face, she could tell automatically that something was wrong.

Another sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, and when she looked over to where John was staring, it felt as though time had frozen. Her eyes widened when it finally registered what exactly she was looking at.

The TARDIS.

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><p><p>

"Rose? What rose?" Rory asked as he examined the area. He looked back at the Doctor and saw him looking off somewhere else. At some_one_ in particular. "Ah..I'll shut up now."

"Doctor?" Amy looked from him to the woman he was staring at. He had an almost petrified look in his eyes. "Doctor, are you alright?" She shook his arm to jolt him out of his trance.

"This is impossible. It just...it _can't_ happen. Why of all places, does it have to be _here_?" He began whispering to himself.

"Doctor, what's the matter?" River tried. "Sweetie?" He shook his head and then looked at her. She could see guilt as she looked in his eyes. She knew, because there had been a moment when she too had never felt guiltier in her life than ever before, back when she had first met him. And killed him. Yes, she knew the feeling well.

He smiled before continuing, "Nothing's the matter. Nothing at all." Looking back at Rory and Amy, he clapped his hands together, "Right then, shall we go introduce ourselves? Better not be rude. We _did_, after all, just crash land in their world!" He gestured to the two people staring at them from across the street.

The blonde woman seemed to be in a heated discussion with the man. She kept motioning to where they'd just walked out of the TARDIS. The man didn't look as though he was saying anything. He just stood there with his hands in his pockets and a very serious look on his face.

"You go on ahead of me, I'll be right back. I'm going to grab some more stuff from the TARDIS." River said.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure." The Doctor was again preoccupied with staring at his surroundings.

"Sweetie?" River asked in an enticingly.

"Yes?" The Doctor scratched his cheek as he looked at her.

"_Keys_?" She held out her hand, and arched an eyebrow.

"Oh! Right, right! Sorry, here you are." He fished out the keys to the blue box and quickly handed them over.

"Thank you." She finished in a singsong voice.

He grinned as he watched her head back into the TARDIS. He hadn't realized how accustomed he'd grown to answering to the term, 'sweetie' that it still gave him a slight butterfly feeling in his stomach.

"Doctor? How are we going to get back?" Amy asked, grabbing the Doctor's arm again.

"Isn't it obvious? We have to let her sit here and absorb enough of the rift energy to fly her back." He gave her a confused look before turning around to face them all. "Alright, so first are some rules. No wandering off, namely you Amelia." He pointed a finger at her. "I can't have you finding the parallel versions of yourselves for fun. We wait until the TARDIS has enough energy to get us home, and that's that. Since we're here, we can figure out what caused the rift, or crack if you'd rather use the term, and we close it for good. Got it?" He glanced at each of them.

"Yeah, right, uhm, Doctor?" Amy was looking past him, not paying attention to what he'd said.

"What is it, Pond?" He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He knew who she was looking at, but he didn't want to turn around.

"I think they're coming over here." She pointed.

"Of course they are. They want to know why I'm here." He stated flatly, as though the answer was so clear to begin with.

"Why would they want to know why you're here?" Rory asked.

"Well—" He was cut off.

"Because he's never supposed to cross through to this world. Ever again." A voice answered.

The Doctor cringed slightly. Nothing about being in that world felt right. He slowly turned around and was met with the face of his previous regeneration. "Ah. Hello!" He said cheerfully. "Long time. No...see." His smile faltered slightly.

"So, how do you two know each other?" Rory asked as he looked from the random stranger to the Doctor.

"Oh Rory. Haven't you figured it out by now?" The Doctor looked back at him with a serious face that matched that of the man standing in front of him. "He's me."

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><p><p>

"Ah, right. Not following again." Rory looked even more confused than when they'd tried to explain the rift to him.

"Come on Rory! Current regeneration," he motioned to his face, "past regeneration." He motioned to the other man's face, "Old me, new me! Keep with the times!"

"But then how can there be two of you? Is he like another ganger version of you?" Rory pointed between the two of them.

"What? No! He grew from an old hand of mine that got chopped off. Moving on." He clapped his hands together, "So, _Doctor_. What do they call you in this world?"

"We call him John. John Smith." A woman's voice chimed in.

The Doctor closed his eyes momentarily to compose himself and then peeked behind John. Rose was standing just a few feet away with her arms crossed. He wasn't sure if she was angry, or just cold. He hoped for the latter.

"Is it really you? You look so...different. How do we know it's actually him?" She addressed John with the last statement.

"I can tell. We're the same person, so I know." John turned around to look at her, and gave her a slight nod of approval. When he faced them again he still had a contemplative expression. He was mulling everything over in his head, wondering where to begin.

Amy and Rory looked at each other awkwardly. "Oookay. So you're both the same person?" Amy scratched her head, red hair bouncing slightly as she did so. "Yeeaah still not following." She pursed her lips and furrowed her brow even more.

John, noticing how tense the situation was, decided to lighten the mood a bit, "Right then! Since you're all here might as well get to know each other! Rose?" He stepped to the side and motioned for her to join him closer to where everyone stood.

Slowly stepping forward she greeted the two new comers, "Hi there, I'm Rose." She smiled and tucked some hair behind her ear.

The Doctor noticed how much older she was. She had some more wrinkles around her eyes, and a couple starting on her forehead. Much was hidden under her makeup, but he could tell she was in her late 20s, possibly even in her early 30s. In a way she reminded him of her mother, still wearing clothing for the younger crowd. Though, he did have to hand it to her, she could pull it off well. No noticeable weight gain, so nothing looked awkward. He faked a cough when they accidentally made eye contact.

"Right, Ponds! Introduce yourselves as well." He patted Rory on the shoulder.

"Ponds?" Rose looked at them questioningly.

"Yeah he tends to call us that." Rory answered. "It should really be _Williams_." He gave the Doctor an annoyed look.

"Oy I thought we agreed on Pond!" Amy chided and smacked him on the arm lightly.

"Ouch, thank you." He rubbed his arm, "Right, anyway, I'm Rory and this is my wife, Amy." He motioned to the red head who smiled.

"Married?" Rose arched an eyebrow and looked expectantly at the Doctor. He merely scratched his cheek and shrugged.

"What am I not allowed to chaperone a married couple?"

Rose held up her hands, "No, no. Just thought you wouldn't let more than one person travel with you since Mickey, and all."

"Who's Mickey?" Amy asked.

"Ex boyfriend." The Doctor answered.

"Your's?" She snorted.

"What? No!" He huffed.

Rose tried to conceal a laugh. "Oy." John nudged her with his elbow.

"Sorry, but it _was_ kind of funny. And it's not like you haven't been friendly with other men before. What about Jack?" She smirked. "Besides, you two _did_ bicker like a married couple at times." She giggled.

"Ahh, sounds like someone _else_ we know." Amy crossed her arms and gave the Doctor a triumphant look.

"Shut up. Not like that!" He retorted, mimicking how he'd answered her when she'd joked about the TARDIS being in a woman's body.

"_Amy_." Rory warned her.

"Right, sorry." She laughed.

"Someone you know?" Rose wasn't sure if she liked where the conversation was headed. "What like Donna or Martha?" Although she was with the human Doctor, when she reflected back on all their adventures she still felt slightly possessive over the real Doctor.

"No, not those two. It's really nothing. _Amelia_ just likes to joke. No stop it." He warned her. He could feel the tension rise slightly and he wanted to run back into the TARDIS and wait for everything to pass. Which reminded him, River had gone into the TARDIS some while ago...

And with perfect timing, as always, the door to the blue box opened and River stepped out partway.

"Sweetie, could you come here a second?"

The Doctor smacked his hand against his forehead.

Rose put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow, "_Sweetie_?"

"Uhh..." He'd never felt more flustered and put on the spot than he did in that moment.

"Oh, hello I didn't even see you two there!" River stepped out and straightened herself. She closed the door and walked over to where everyone stood. Holding out a hand to Rose, she introduced herself, "Doctor River Song. Pleasure to meet you." She smiled.

Rose stood gawking at her, "_Doctor _Song?"


	4. Chapter 4

_**Disclaimer: **Doctor Who © BBC. I own nothing but this story!_

_**Author's Notes:** A bit of a filler chapter since I decided to stray away from my original plans just slightly so we could get in some time for Jackie Tyler as well! Since we're having a bit of fun, why not add in some more, eh? Anyway, am I the only one who notices Rose's accent more when she get's frustrated or angry? I tried to write it like that, but I understand if it gets weird after using regular spelling etc with her. It's not too "accent oriented" so not too much of a change. I'm trying not to play favourites here, and I'm having a really hard time not to! XD _

_Thanks for everyone who's reviewed so far! _

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The atmosphere around everyone switched from somewhat tense, to off the charts uneasiness. Amy and Rory took it as a sign to back away, so they stepped off to the side and sat down on a nearby bench. John had recognized River from the moment she stepped out, and knew he didn't want to deal with the situation either, so joined the married couple.

"Right, so how do you all know each other exactly?" He attempted to start the conversation.

"It's kind of a long story." Rory gave him a wary look.

"Right, best saved for some other time then?" John caught on to Rory's hidden meaning and nodded.

A couple seconds later.

"So how exactly does Rose know the Doctor—or I guess you..? This is so confusing." Amy also asked, John opened his mouth to speak but was promptly cut off, "Also save for another time?"

He nodded and looked back at Rose, then the Doctor, then Rose, and then River. The day was just getting stranger and stranger as it went on. He could feel a headache start up.

"Yes, _Doctor_ Song. Is something the matter with that?" River started to tense up, being raised to be a killer gave her instincts to tell what emotions people had. It was quite clear that this woman she'd just met—who still hadn't introduced herself properly—was very upset with something. Something, she assumed, that had to do with the Doctor. Typical.

"Oh no, nothing's wrong." Rose said defensively. "You two married or somethin'?"

"Spoilers." Though it was the usual thing for River to say, the words were spoken, not by her, but by the flustered Doctor instead. "Right, River?" He gulped. He could feel his body temperature rise and his brow began to sweat slightly. Definitely not a good day for drama. In fact no day was good for drama. He quite disliked it.

"Spoilers? What's spoilers? It's a simple question, are you married or not?" Rose's voice began to rise slightly.

"Well, you see—" the Time Lord began, but was cut off early.

"Doctor is my _title_, not a name I took on for some marriage. I'm an _archaeologist_." River explained, getting quite agitated with the immaturity of the situation.

"What?" Rose and the Doctor said in unison. They glanced at each other briefly.

"So you're not married then?" Rose asked cautiously.

River merely arched an eyebrow and sighed. "Are we going to figure out a way to get us home, and close the rift, or not?"

"Oh, right...Sorry. John?" Rose looked over to her version of the Doctor and motioned for him to join them, hoping his presence would help ease the stress.

The Doctor looked at River, hoping to get an explanation. She knew his name for pete's sake, he figured they would have at least gotten married at some point. Or possibly even joked about it at the very least. Generally she'd say 'spoilers' if there was something she couldn't talk about. But this time she merely shrugged it off and continued like nothing had happened.

"Right, uh. Hello again, River." John slowly made his way up to them.

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" River looked at him confused.

John mentally kicked himself. He'd forgotten that the first time he'd met her, was her last time meeting him. Obviously since the Doctor knew her, it was later in his time line. After he'd become human.

"I meant from earlier. I saw you earlier. Before you got back in the TARDIS. And obviously heard you say your name and all." He waved his hand about.

"Oh right, sorry, I'd completely forgot about that." She smiled. He sighed inwardly. Another disaster saved. For the time being.

A moment of silence passed briefly before the Doctor addressed Amy and Rory, "Ponds, time to get a move on. First things first, we need to find out what caused the crack to open." He turned to John and Rose, "Right then, experts of this world. Where shall we start? I'm sure you would have been monitoring everything going on."

"We can go to our place." John answered and scratched the back of his head.

"What about Torchwood?" Rose questioned.

"You know how I feel about that place." He raised an eyebrow.

"It's not as bad as the other one. I've told you that hundreds of times. Besides, gotta get bread on the table somehow." She hissed.

"Instead of bread, could we possibly move further away from your mother?" He joked, and nudged her slightly.

"Oy, watch it! That's my mum you're talking about!" She warned.

"Right, right. Anyway, our place then?" John beamed. It'd been quite some time since he'd last been on an adventure, and although this one included possibly tearing worlds apart, he was still excited to get to work.

"Alright, then. Lead the way Rose Tyler. Defender of Earth." John offered his arm. "This way." He instructed everyone behind him. With the introductions taken care of, everyone hastily made their way to John and Rose's place.

The Doctor stopped briefly to scan the surroundings. It felt as though someone was watching them, but he couldn't figure out where. There was also something else that was eating at the back of his mind. He felt as though he was missing something. Something important, and something staring him in the face.

"Doctor!" He heard River call his name from a few blocks ahead. He waited a couple of seconds before turning back around and jogging to catch up.

It wasn't until they rounded another corner, no longer in range of the TARDIS, when a shadowed figure appeared. They walked out from behind a building a ways down from the direction everyone had headed off. The figure walked swiftly to the time machine and pushed lightly on the door.

They smiled as it creaked open slowly. Allowing them full reign of what lay inside, unbeknown to the Time Lord.

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John and Rose didn't live far from the busy parts of the city, they'd decided to find a place about 20 minutes driving distance away. However, not wanting to lose everyone on public transportation, they'd agreed to walking.

"Rory?"Amy groaned as she threw her head back.

"Yeah?" He grunted in response.

"Ask the Doctor if we're there yet." She huffed.

"Why don't you do it?" He too groaned slightly.

"Because you love me, and I'm too tired to." She crossed her arms.

"Aren't you just wasting more energy asking me to, when you could just ask him yourself?" He sighed.

"Just do it!" She hissed.

"Fine." He put his hands up in defeat. "Doctor?" He looked sideways to the man walking beside him.

"Yeah, yeah I heard. Best ask those two since I haven't a clue where we're going." He nodded to Rose and John who were a few meters ahead.

"Can't you do it?" He rolled his eyes.

"I believe your wife is the one that wants to know. Not me." He insisted.

"Ok that's it! I'm no one's call boy. Amy, just ask them if you really want to know. And Doctor." Rory glared at him, "This is the last time you drag us into the middle of your drama filled love life. Adventuring other worlds and times and such is fine. But no more ex-girlfriend issues." He threatened.

"What? She's not my ex-girlfriend!" The Doctor huffed and crossed his arms.

"I don't care." Rory warned.

"Sweetie, you'd best not anger him. Remember, he _does_ know how to use a sword." River teased.

"Oh...hush." He sad defeated.

Ahead of them Rose was listening in on their conversation. She was holding hands with John and he squeezed hers gently. He knew that she was having trouble processing all of what was going on. "You ok?" He whispered.

"I'm fine." She lied.

"Rose." He said sternly and squeezed her hand again.

She looked up at him sadly, "I don't know. It's just. You're both the same man. Not to say that I'd choose him over you. I chose you, and that's the best decision in my life. Believe me." She smiled. "But. I don't know. I just figured he—or I guess you—would still at least show some sign of feelings for me. I thought we had something special. You know? It's like you just moved on in a split second and forgot all about me." Her smile faltered and she could feel tears welling in her eyes.

John pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed it softly to try and comfort her. "Rose Tyler, I could never leave you, or move on." He tried to convince her.

"Yeah, tell him that." She scoffed slightly.

Behind them the Doctor had caught bits of their conversation and tried not to show his guilt. He definitely still loved her. Not that he was _in_ love with her. But as a friend. There was a point when his past self was in love with her, yes, but he'd learned to move on. Though the guilt of leaving her a world apart never left him. He'd began to drain out the rest of the conversations around him, when a voice broke his train of thought.

"Doctor?" He looked up and saw Rose looking back at him, the same way when he'd first met her. He felt another pang of guilt wash over him, but didn't show it.

"Yes, what is it?" he answered.

"We're here." She smiled at him, and he felt his hearts break again.

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The house they lived in wasn't too small, but at the same time wasn't too big. Just enough room to hold the 6 of them as they filtered in through the front door and into the living area. It didn't take long for Amy and Rory to find a comfortable spot on the couch and nod off while the rest of the group went in to the kitchen to talk things over.

"So how did you find out about the rift anyway?" John asked as he prepared a pot of tea for everyone. Rose was leaning up against one of the counters, while the Doctor and River sat at the table.

The Doctor fiddled his thumbs as he started to explain, "Oh let's see. I was fixing parts of the TARDIS when Amy came barging in telling me how she didn't like the bunk beds for her and Rory. There was lots of arguing and...stuff. And then River hopped aboard the TARDIS. Well, more of she materialized instead of hopped. Hopping would imply that she came in from the front doors. Or perhaps it'd imply that she was literally hopping about. Which she wasn't. And—"

"Doctor." River faked a cough.

"Yes, right. Sorry. Off topic! Anyway, just to clarify again, she showed up. Randomly. There that sounds more like it. I sent Amy and Rory off to find their new bedroom. And so I think it was about that time that River showed me some readings she'd obtained." The Doctor nodded sounding pretty pleased with himself.

"Right then." John said as he tended to the tea. His new self was very space brained. More so than he was. "So how did you get ahold of those readings then, River?"

"Oh boy. Where to begin? Well little bit of background to get you lot caught up. In my time I've just seen the Doctor. We were dealing with these cracks in time." The older woman started.

"Cracks in time?" Rose asked as she grabbed some mugs for everyone.

"Yes. Lots of them, actually." River told her.

"What are those?"

"Were. What _were_ those." The Doctor corrected her. "Basically they were two points in time that never should have touched."

"Meaning..?" Rose pulled a face as she looked at him.

"Meaning the end of the Universe." He answered.

"If it was the end of the Universe, then how are we all still here?" She looked at him confused.

River jumped in to the conversation, "Being the daft old man that he is," she rolled her eyes at him, "He, of course, launched himself into it and erased himself from all of existence."

"He what!" Rose's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Oh don't worry! Amy brought me back!" The Doctor beamed. "Good old Pond." He smiled.

"Right." Rose shook her head as she tried to process what they'd just said. "So, hold on. You said in _your_ time. Wouldn't you two have been together when that happened?"

"Uh. About that." The Doctor held up a finger to explain, but looked over to River instead.

She had already pulled out her infamous blue diary and was already flipping through her entries. "Right, let's see...Oh gosh, very early days." She flipped through a few more pages. "You said you did Berlin recently?" She looked back at the Doctor and he nodded. John stood more to the back of the kitchen and eyed the book. He remembered when she'd pulled it out in the Library. He still wondered what was inside of it.

"Yes, and by the way. That was a very rash decision and you shouldn't have done it." He lectured her.

River shook her head, "Oh please. You would have died if I hadn't of done that."

"Would have? I _did_!" He began to argue with her.

"Well you're not dead _now_, are you?" She cocked an eyebrow and smirked.

"Shut up, not the point." He folded his arms in annoyance.

"Hold on, what are you two talking about anyway?" Rose interjected as she set the tea down on the table for them.

"You see, we don't exactly travel together." The Doctor began.

"We also don't meet up at the same time." River added on.

"Yeah, I'm starting to get that." Rose said as she sipped her tea.

"No. What I mean is, our timelines aren't the same." River's tone started to get sad as she spoke.

John stood up a bit more straight and leaned in a bit to listen more closely.

"We don't always meet up at the same point in time for our timelines. So I keep a diary to keep up with when and where our last adventure was. So for me, the cracks in time happened just recently. And based on the last time the Doctor saw me, so during Berlin, it's been about over a year or so for him." River finished and closed the blue book.

"Hold on, so you crossed your own timeline?" John eyed her.

"I wasn't sure which Doctor I'd get next, and this obviously couldn't have waited. I had to take the chance of finding a later version." River looked past Rose at him.

"Right, makes sense." John nodded in agreement.

All conversation came to a pause. The only sound came from the Doctor slurping his tea.

"Oh I almost forgot, I brought the data I gathered if you'd like to go over it." River sat up and began rummaging through her pockets. She pulled out her PDA communicator and pressed a few buttons before finding the information.

"Where'd you get that?" The Doctor asked. He remembered her bringing paperwork with her, not her PDA.

"Remember when I said I was getting something from the TARDIS?" She flashed him a grin. "You didn't expect me to lug around everything did you?"

"No, I guess not. But what took you so long? You know the TARDIS inside and out." He leaned in to whisper, "Did you do that on purpose so you could make an entrance?"

River laughed, "Doctor, do you think I'd really do that on purpose?" She batted her eyelashes playfully.

He stared at her blankly. "Yes."

Rose rolled her eyes and interrupted them, "You two need a room or somethin'? Or can we start going over everything?"

"Er, yes. Sorry." The Doctor glared at River and stood up, though a smile played on his lips as he exited the room.

John walked back over to the table to collect the mugs. "The tea alright?" He asked.

"Oh it was lovely." River smiled. "I haven't seen this face of yours yet." She reached up and lightly ran a hand across his cheek.

"Oh, uh. Yeah, I guess not." He quickly pulled back, afraid that Rose would have seen them.

"So this body of your's is human isn't it?" She stood up and patted herself down.

"Yeah, it is...how did you know?" He put the dishes in the sink.

"I guess you could say that I just have a _way_ with those kinds of things." River winked.

"S'cuse me, but you mind not flirtin' with my boyfriend while I'm here." Rose crossed her arms and stared the older woman down.

"Oh he's all your's sweetheart. Much to young for my liking." She winked as she too left the room.

Rose turned to give John a mini lecture when there was a loud pounding at the door.

_BAM. BAM. BAM._

"Rose? Rose are you there? It's your mum. Don't play games with me, Rose. I see the lights on!"

Rose groaned, she didn't have time to entertain her mom. She figured if everyone was quiet enough then she'd eventually just leave. There was some clatter at the front of the house when the sound of the door opening was heard.

"Oh god, don't tell me.." Rose mumbled to herself.

"What the? Who are you!" Jackie yelled at the man who had just opened the door to her daughter's house. "You definitely don't seem like the type Rose would go for—bow tie and all—so I'm assuming you're not fooling around with her. She has a boyfriend you know. Rose!" She yelled behind him.

"Ahh! Jackie Tyler! Good to see you! Well, sort of. I wasn't expecting that. A bit of a surprise actually."

"How do you know my name? Who are you?" She pointed a finger at him.

"Oh, Jackie, Jackie. Can't you tell?" He asked as he straightened said bow tie. "I'm the Doctor."


	5. Chapter 5

_**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who © BBC. I own nothing but this story!_

_**Author's Note:** Sorry for the wait! I was busy doing some school work! Updates will be less frequent due to the amount of projects and essays I've been assigned! Anyway, just another quick filler chapter. What's going to happen next in the Doctor's love life? C-; What do you think his decision was?_

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"What? You're lying." Jackie eyed him. "Rose said the Doctor could never come through to this world again. Now quit pullin' my leg, and let me through so I can see my daughter!" She all but shoved him aside.

"Same old Jackie, I see." The Doctor murmerd.

"Rose, there you are! Who's this man? He's goin' on about how he's the Doctor. Weird bloke, where'd you pick him up? Does John know about this?"

"Nice to see you too mum." Rose said sarcastically.

"Ello Jackie!" John popped his head into the main room.

"Ah there you are! I was worried that maybe Rose might've gone and done somethin' behind your back." Jackie payed no attention to Rose's comment and continued to make small talk with John.

"Mum! I swear, always making things negative." Rose scoffed and rolled her eyes. She moved to where Amy and Rory were and shook them to wake them up. "Oy you two, might want to get up. My mum's here, so figured I'd wake you before her loud voice does."

"Is that what I was hearing in my dream?" Rory asked puzzled. He shook his head to wake himself up properly.

"I was thinking the same thing." Amy sighed as she too sat up.

"New friends of your's?" Jackie motioned to the couple on the couch.

"Yeah, sure. I guess you could say that." Rose looked at Amy and Rory and smiled.

"Right, so is anyone gonna tell me who this bloke is?" Jackie pointed with her thumb behind her to the Doctor.

"I've already told you, I'm the Doctor!" He huffed as he fixed his jacket.

"Yeah, sure. And I'm Madonna." She rolled her eyes.

"Mum, it's true. It's the Doctor." Rose nodded.

"You're jokin'. I know he can't come back to this world. You two explained it to me hundreds of times already." Her mom sighed as she put her hands on her hips. John was behind her and decided it was best to leave before he was pulled into another long conversation.

"I'm not joking. It's really him." Rose insisted and nodded back towards the Doctor.

Jackie looked back and forth between the two for a few moments. She studied the Doctor's face, and then her daughter's to see if they were lying at all. Her eyes got wide when she realized they weren't kidding, and her jaw went slack. "It's really you? You changed your face again!" She stared at him baffled.

The Doctor stood up straighter and a smug smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. He did enjoy making an entrance. His moment of glory was short lived when finally the sound of Jackie's voice broke his train of thought.

"Meh. I liked you better before. You got too much of a baby face now." She examined him some more.

"Oi, it's not like I can choose what I want." He retorted, annoyance starting to boil in the pit of his stomach.

"Well you could choose your clothing differently, that's for sure." She mumbled.

Amy snorted from her seat on the couch, "See what'd I tell you?"

"Amelia." He pointed a finger at her and glared.

"Don't _Amelia_ me." She mocked. "I at least have a fashion sense." She turned her nose upward and huffed.

"Fashion sense? You barely wear any clothes as it is! Rory tell your wife to put on more clothes for a change. We don't want another accident happening like the time you helped me fix the TARDIS." The Doctor whined.

Rory opened his mouth and was quickly silenced by his wife, "Rory don't say anything." The feisty Scottish woman glared at him.

"Right." He nodded.

"Married? Since when do you take married couples with you?" Jackie asked the Doctor.

"What I've always taken more than one person with me." He said defensively and straightened his tweed jacket.

"Last I remember you had a hard enough time taking Mickey along for the ride." She arched an eyebrow. "For all I know you just abduct random women."

"Oh come on Jackie, still going on about that?" John piped in from the background. He leaned sideways against the corner of the wall to face everyone. Rose had taken in one of the chairs next to Amy and Rory.

"Well what was I supposed to think? You took Rose away for over a year without telling me where you were!" 

"Mum I've told you hundreds of times that it was an accident. I thought you'd gotten over that by now." Rose rolled her eyes.

"Seriously? A year?" Amy turned around and stared gawking at Rose. She made herself comfortable on the couch and tucked in one leg under her.

"Well sort of, he just got the times wrong."

"Whatever the case, you took my Rose from me without telling me." Jackie wasn't sure if she should address the Doctor or John so stood in such a way so she could look between the two.

"What happened to 'dependable sexy' you kept going on about with the ganger you?" Amy teased.

"Hey watch it! She's always dependable. She just gets the timings mixed up sometimes. Still very dependable, and still very sexy." The Doctor glared at the red headed woman. He took a seat in the last chair towards the front window and ran a hand through his hair.

"Sweetie it's not her fault you always end up in the wrong time. I keep telling you to take the brakes off." River came walking in from down the hall John was standing in front of.

"It's not the brakes. She's already said it's because she takes me where I _need_ to go." He fired back at her quickly.

"Oh Doctor, Doctor. It's not just only that. How would _you_ feel if someone left _your_ brakes on all the time?" She smirked as she watched his face begin to flush red in anger. She enjoyed teasing him.

"That doesn't even make sense? How can I have brakes? Your argument is irrelevant due to it not making sense." He waved off her comment.

"Hold up, who're you?" Jackie cut into their banter to address the new woman that just walked in. She looked her up and down.

"River Song, Jackie. Jackie. River Song." The Doctor blurted out quickly. He wished so badly for everyone to just stop creating all of the drama that was swirling about in the room. He could feel the tension begin to rise and the atmosphere began to change again.

"Right. So who's this sexy person you keep going on about?" Jackie crossed her arms and pursed her lips. Rose sat quietly and smirked. Her mother could be so forward. Though she did like it at that particular moment seeing as she wanted to get more answers out of the Doctor as well.

"Sexy is my TARDIS. I call her that." The Doctor answered quickly.

"Her?" She looked at him confused.

"Yeah I just assumed that the TARDIS was a woman..." He trailed off.

"And then we went to a little bubble universe on the side of this universe where the spirit of the TARDIS was put into a woman's body." Amy finished. "I still think you wished on that bit." She eyed the Doctor playfully.

"Shut up!" His face flushed in embarrassment. "And I already told you, it was not a bubble universe."

"You left the universe?" John entered the conversation again briefly. "How'd you manage that?"

"With a lot of difficulty." Rory answered.

"Wait so the TARDIS was a woman?" Rose also asked.

"Well, uh, yes." The Doctor looked to her.

"Ha! Oh that's brilliant! You always did talk to it all the time!" She laughed.

"She is most definitely not an it!" He corrected her.

"You never told me that one Sweetie. How'd you manage that?" River arched an eyebrow and proceeded to bat her eyelashes innocently as the Doctor glared at her. He felt his head start to pound again.

"Why do you call him sweetie?" Jackie asked the curly haired woman, giving her a nasty look.

"I guess you could say it's somewhat of a pet name." River told her and scratched the top of her head.

"Pet name? You let her give you a pet name?" Jackie and Rose asked the Doctor in unison.

"Well, kind of. She just does it on her own I guess. No stopping River." He whispered the last bit.

"So you two together or something?" Jackie prodded some more.

"Well, no..uh. It's all very complicated." He scratched his cheek nervously.

"Everything's always complicated with you." She rolled her eyes.

"You sure you two aren't married or somethin'?" Rose glared once more.

John had since left the room the Doctor was beginning to wish he could do the same. It got louder and louder as everyone talked at the same time. The Doctor wasn't sure who to answer. He looked at Jackie and saw her parental unit kick in as she pointed a finger at him and was waving it about. She had a stern look on her face, and as she spoke he could hear the anger rise in her voice. Such a feisty woman. Rose had her arms crossed and was also giving him a look that gave him another sinking feeling. Amy wasn't helping the situation by chiming in with her random jokes. He could tell she was enjoying watching him squirm. Rory was smirking, and the Doctor could tell he was trying to hold in a laugh. He could feel his body temperature rise as he got more and more frustrated. He'd long since stopped listening to what everyone was saying, and instead only looked to River. He silently pleaded for her to help him, but she just looked at him with a blank stare. Was she mad too? He couldn't tell.

He felt something snap inside and he stood up sharply, "That's enough! All of you just be quiet!" He yelled. The whole room became dead silent and he glared at all of them. "Amy and Rory go find something else to do, and don't get yourselves into any more trouble. River, go talk to John and figure out what exactly is going on with everything. And Jackie, I know you came here for a reason so either spit it out or leave." He addressed everyone, venom dripping off of every word.

"Don't talk to my mum like that!" Rose stood up.

"The only thing I'm focussed on right now is getting us off of this planet and back to where we belong. I can talk to her however I bloody please."

"Don't you talk to my daughter like that!" Jackie warned him, her voice shaking a little. She wasn't used to seeing the angry side of the Doctor.

"Just SHUT UP would you!" The Doctor threw his arms in the arm as he yelled some more. He was fed up with everything. He didn't need any more of the drama, and he just wanted to get back to the proper universe.

"_Doctor_!" River stepped forward from where she was and approached the fuming man. "That's _enough_."

He glared at her momentarily and then stared at her. No one spoke or moved. The only sound came from the Doctor as he breathed heavily from his nostrils in an attempt to calm down.

"That's _enough_." River echoed once more, except more softly.

The Doctor looked away quickly and ran a hand through his mop of hair yet again. "Right. Sorry."

He saw Rory pat Amy's leg and motion for her to follow him. She quickly jumped up and they scurried out of the room.

"I don't care if it's 'cos of your new face, but you don't talk to me or my daughter like that. You understand?" Jackie tried to sound threatening as she too exited the room.

The Time Lord looked up at River and he felt his heart melt at the smile she was giving him. She knew how to calm him down from any temper tantrum he threw, and it gave him butterflies in his stomach. He thanked her silently as she turned to find John.

With almost everyone out of the room, he could feel the only two eyes staring holes in his head. He wasn't sure how to look at her after blowing up, but he slowly lifted his eyes to meet those of Rose.

He was taken aback by the tears he saw in her eyes. She was still glaring at him, definitely still mad, but at the same time she was on the verge of crying. He assumed out of frustration.

"Rose, I—"

"Just shut up." She whispered. She walked to the front door and placed her hand on the handle. She stood there for a few moments before finally looking up at the Doctor. "I want the old you back." She gave him a sad look before leaving the house. She slammed the door shut, and as she did and he flinched.

The Doctor stood alone in the room to ponder on everything. He paced back and forth and scratched his head once more. He slumped down on the chair and hit himself on he forehead. "Why am I so stupid!" He mumbled to himself.

He jumped out of his seat, finally understanding what it was he had to do. He had to make things right, and he knew he had to finally start listening to what his heart had been trying to tell him for years.

He had to tell her, the woman he loved, and he had to do it quick before he messed up anything else.

"Rose wait!"


	6. Chapter 6

_**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who © BBC. I own nothing but this story!_

_**Author's Notes: **Alright I lied, I couldn't wait to get this chapter written up, so I sped through my homework today so I could finish it! Muahaha! What will happen after the previous chapter? Keep reading and find out! Another shorter chapter._

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><p>"Rose wait!" The sound of the Doctor's shoes slapping against the pavement echoed in the night air. He didn't realize how far she'd gone down the road, even with two hearts he still found himself tiring out after the first couple of blocks. Maybe it was from all of the events that day that wore him out.<p>

He was about to give up and turn around when he saw her familiar figure in the distance. He cursed out loud at how out of breath he was, but forced himself to keep running.

When he got close enough he snatched her wrist and yanked on her arm. "Rose wait." He panted as he tried to catch his breath.

"Excuse me?" An older voice asked. He looked up and mentally kicked himself. A much older woman was looking down at him confused.

"Oh, sorry! I thought you were someone else!" The Doctor stood up quickly and held his hands in front of him. His lungs still felt like they were on fire. He walked around her, stumbling as he did so, and took off once again. _'Where the hell could she have gone to in such a short amount of time?' _He wondered.

He ran down every street he could see, and each time came up empty handed. Finally he gave up and began walking to no where in particular. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but he started to realize how cold it was outside and he pulled his jacket tighter around him. He looked up and saw different stars above his head. "Right, different stars. Parallel universe." He mumbled to himself.

Somehow he'd made his way to a nearby park and stumbled upon one of the walking paths. He decided he might as well enjoy the night since he really didn't want to go back and face Jackie. He knew River and John would work to figure out something. One thing was certain about his past self, he never gave up. _'And neither does River.' _He smiled.

No matter what River was never the first to give up. In fact she wasn't the last either, she kept fighting until the very end. It was something the Doctor truly admired about her.

He kicked a rock down the path he was on, and as he watched it bounce off in the distance, he finally found the girl he was looking for.

Rose was seated on one of the park benches, staring up in the night sky. He knew she heard him walking up to her, but still he cautiously approached.

"Rose?" The Doctor started nervously. He wasn't sure what to say, and even if he did he doubted he would have know _how_ to say it.

"Sometimes I miss it. The adventuring." She started speaking, not making eye contact. "I used to sit outside and just watch everything pass by. Just sat there and would wait."

A silence fell between them and the Doctor slowly walked around to the open spot on the bench and sat down. He slumped back in his seat and stared up at the sky with her. A star went shooting by.

After a couple of minutes she finally continued, "Do you ever miss it?"

"Sorry?" He asked, not sure what she was talking about.

"Our adventures? We went through so much together. Do you ever miss it?"

He chanced a look at her before turning his gaze back up to the stars. Mentally keeping track of their positioning. "No, not really." He stated flatly. "I prefer not to get hung up on past events."

Rose looked over at him briefly and saw sadness in his eyes. She wasn't sure if it was about her or not, but she chose not to pry.

"What about John?" The Doctor asked, trying to change the subject.

Rose sighed, "What about him?"

The Doctor looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"No, I didn't mean it like that." She said quickly. "What do you want to know? He's you, so what do you need to know? Can't you like feel what he's thinking or something?"

"Not in this body. In my past body, yes, but...I mean after regenerating again. It's like the connection got broken, or at least became weaker. Besides, living in two separate worlds also makes things a bit difficult to keep track of." He scratched the side of his neck and shrugged.

Rose nodded, understanding. "I don't know. I guess. I just don't know what to think. I mean, you're the same person, but—"

"But I'm not." He finished for her.

"No. Not anymore." She sighed and dropped her head slightly. "I just. I thought that..." She trailed off, not sure how to continue. More tears dripped down her face that night.

The Doctor closed his eyes. He hated being the cause of people's tears. Especially those he cared for.

"Who is she exactly?" Rose asked.

"Excuse me?" The Doctor knew who she was talking about, but wasn't sure how to answer.

"That River woman. Who is she? To you?"

He could feel her eyes on him and he ran a hand through his mop of hair. "You really want to know?" A smile tugged at his lips. "She's Amy and Rory's daughter." He finished and watched confusion wash over Rose's features.

"Wait..._What_?"

"Our time lines aren't exactly linear." He tried to explain.

"So how does that work with Amy and Rory?" She asked baffled. Clearly not believing what he was saying.

"Well they're still getting used to it. As am I." He chuckled.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Rose laughed and lightly smacked his shoulder.

"It's really confusing. I'm still trying to sort it all out. But Amy and Rory had a baby a couple of months back. But." He sat forward and leant forward on his knees to stare down at the ground.

"But?"

"But, I let her get taken away. I couldn't save her from this group of people that were going to use her as a weapon." His head drooped down in defeat.

"A weapon to be used for what?" Rose leaned in a bit more, curious to hear the rest of the story.

"A weapon to be used...against _me_." He looked up at her and she could see the anguish in his face immediately. "They took her. And they trained her to hate me. To kill me. Anyway, in the process she was taken back in time somehow and she became childhood friends with the two. So in a sense they raised her. But...I couldn't find her in time to let them raise her properly."

"So that's how she can be their daughter..but be older than them?" She still sounded confused.

"Remember when I first told you that time isn't a straight line? Kind of like that. They took her back in time and so she grew older than them." The Doctor finished.

"No I get that bit, but I still don't really get why these people wanted her to use her as a weapon, you are talking about River right? Why did they want her and not someone else?" She ran her fingers through her hair.

"Melody. Her name, back then, was Melody. Melody Pond." He smiled as he remembered first meeting her as a baby. "She's no ordinary person." His smile softened as he spoke of her. "She's sort of...well, how to put this. She's not just human. She's got more to her than just that." He flailed his hands about and began twisting them in circles to try and convey what he was trying to explain.

"She's?...Got a good body or something?" Rose asked still sounding slightly jealous.

"What? No! No! No!" His face got red, _'Well..' _he thought to himself. "She's human plus." He blurted out quickly. "Amy and Rory kind of...well..They were...in the TARDIS. While we were in the time vortex." He said lamely.

"Sorry? What's human plus? She's not human?"

"What? How does _human_ plus mean she's _not_ human? She's part human part..." He trailed off, his stomach began doing flip flops. He wasn't sure of how Rose would react.

"Part what?" Rose raised an eyebrow and bit her lip.

"Part...time...lord." He said quietly. When he looked up he saw the look of both amazement, and disgust on Rose's face.

"Oh god, you shagged your companion? Your _married_ companion?" She felt anger boil up again.

"WHAT! NO! RORY did! NOT me! I said they got it on while the TARDIS was in the time vortex!" His face went 3 shades darker and he hit his hand against his forehead. "Most definitely was NOT me!"

Rose calmed down and nodded once more. "Oh, right. Sorry. Didn't hear you the first time." She rubbed her nose.

The Doctor breathed a sigh of relief and slumped back in his seat again. Another silence fell over them, though it was less tense than the first.

"So...You never answered, what's with the bow tie?" Rose started laughing.

"Bow ties are cool." The Doctor shot her a look before adjusting it.

"And the tweed?" She looked him up and down and continued to laugh.

"Hey watch it! Tweed is cool too!" He pointed a finger at her but couldn't help the smile that quickly spread across his face.

Rose giggled to herself before looking back up to the sky. When her giggle fit subsided she began talking again. "I'm sorry for getting worked up earlier. I'm still just getting used to all of this. Last I saw you, you were still in love with me. Or at least I thought...Were you?"

Without looking at her the Doctor answered, "Yes."

A pause.

"Do you...do you still love me?" Rose was sure she knew the answer, but wanted to ask anyway.

"...Yes."

Another pause.

"But you're not **IN** love with me. Are you?" Her voice became quieter.

The Doctor looked back down at her with a more serious expression. "No."

"Ok. Alright." She nodded. She let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding. "That's why you followed me, isn't it?"

He gave her a weak smile, "Yes."

"Do you love her? I mean, are you _in_ love with her?" Her sad eyes looked at his, searching desperately for an answer to contradict his previous statement.

The Doctor felt his hearts start to beat faster and he swallowed a lump in his throat. "Yes." He finally confirmed.

"I love River Song."

_And you all thought this was going to be a Doctor/Rose fic! ;-D I'm sorry! I couldn't resist!_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Disclaimer: **Doctor Who © BBC_

_**Author's Notes:** I'm sorry for such a long wait! Lots of homework for college! I had to do 2 animations, and a shit ton of essays this past week, so not a lot of time for writing. I've been looking forward to this chapter for the past couple of weeks now, and couldn't put it off any longer! More of a fluffy Doctor/River moment for ya! ;-)_

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><p><p>

"What do you think they're talking about?" A Scottish accent cut into the silence growing around everyone. Amy had herself propped up against one of the door frames and was looking down the hall, imagining where the Doctor might have run off to. The room they'd gone back to was John's study, where he kept all of his "alien tech," as Rose sometimes would call it. Though he was human, because he did come from the Doctor, he still tinkered with everyday household items and turned them into cheaper replicas of past tools he once used on the TARDIS.

"Not now Amy." River murmured as she hunched over the desk John was working at. Papers were piled up, and books were askew as they dug through each pile trying desperately to figure out what had caused the rifts.

"Oi, that's mum to you." The red head eyed her and crossed her arms. She shuffled over to where Rory was seated and slumped down on his lap.

River ignored her, "So this has been going on for awhile now, has it?" She asked John who was speed reading through one of his many books he had filled with personal notes.

"Yeah, for the past few weeks, possibly even months now. Been quite awhile, hard to keep up—and hold up, did you say _mum_?" He furrowed his brow and looked over at Amy.

"_Oh_, right this was before you met me, so you don't know anything about us." Amy motioned between River, Rory, and herself. One of her eyebrows shot up and she smirked devilishly. "River's our daughter." She nodded a head down to Rory who sheepishly waved. He was still getting used to it all.

John took the glasses he had on and rubbed his forehead. "Ok...and how exactly does that work? Aren't you...you know." He was talking to River.

"What?" The blonde smirked. She definitely liked this version of the Doctor.

"Well, _you_ _know_." He motioned with his hand to her body, looking her up and down.

"No, I don't know." River put a hand on her hip and blew a few curls out of her face.

"Aren't you a bit...too old?" He winced when he finished his sentence. Poor choice of wording.

"Are you saying I'm old?" She raised her eyebrows and stared him down. Amy was trying not to laugh while Rory kept nudging her to keep quiet.

"Uh...no. I was just...shouldn't we get back to work?" He put his glasses back on and picked up a random document, trying to pretend he was in the middle of reading something important.

River laughed and patted him on the shoulder as she went to leave the room. "I'll make us up some more tea. Amy, Rory, I'm sure you won't mind if I asked you let us work in peace?"

"Yeah no problem. It's starting to get late anyway. Come on, Amy." Rory answered for them. The sooner they could get the rift situation figured out, the better.

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><p><p>

"Oh, ok. Um.." Rose fidgeted with her jacket. She wasn't sure whether to look up at the Doctor, or not. She definitely did _not_ want to continue the conversation, so figured it best to change the subject. "We should probably get back, don't you think?" She pointed back in the direction to where her house was.

"Oh, right! Definitely! Would be bad to make them do all the work for us. Though I'm not much in a hurry to see your mother again. Maybe I'll go in the back door. Do you have a back door?" The Doctor jumped off of the bench and helped Rose to her feet.

She couldn't help but laugh, this version of the Doctor was very much like a little kid. More so than when John had his epiphanies and started to shout them to the world.

They scurried back to the house as fast as they could. A car passed and flashed its brights at them. Rose waved and kept walking.

"Do you know them? They nearly blinded me!" The Doctor rubbed his eyes in an attempt to get his vision back to normal. Multicoloured spots clouded his sight as he blinked furiously.

"That was my mum. Looks like you won't have to use the back door after all." Rose laughed some more and then yanked on his arm to hurry him up. They ran the rest of the way to the house. When they got back the lights in the house were off except for a faint glow that looked like it was coming from one of the back rooms.

"How long were we gone? Couldn't have been that long." The Doctor looked at his watch and tapped the face of it a couple of times.

The front door creaked open and the two tip toed their way inside, making sure not to potentially wake anyone that could possibly be asleep. Mainly Amy. She was not one to anger, especially in the middle of sleeping.

"Hello? Rose is that you?" John popped his head around the corner upon hearing the door open. "Take it you worked everything out then?" He looked between the two, before eyeing the Doctor carefully.

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that.." The Time Lord shuffled his feet nervously and closed the door behind him.

"Is everyone else asleep?" Rose asked as she took her shoes off, bracing herself against the wall so to not fall over. The bottoms had gathered quite a bit of mud after all of the running in the park she'd done. "You mind taking your shoes off, Doctor? Don't want mud tracks all over the place." She whispered.

"What's that?" He looked down at his feet and noticed the marks his shoes had left behind him, luckily they were still at the front entrance, so he hadn't tracked too much in. "Ah, yes. No problem. So, John, any word yet on what's caused all of this? You know the longer we're here, the more the universe gets torn apart."

"Yeah, actually. River's been helping me sort through everything and we think we know what's been the cause."John balanced himself on the heels of his feet as he waited for the two.

"Excellent! So we'll be off on our way by tomorrow then?" The Doctor asked enthusiastically as he kicked his last shoe off.

"Well...that's the problem..." John rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

"Oh great, what else is there?" Rose asked.

"Of course, there's always a catch. Why can't things ever go smoothly?" The Doctor cringed as he waited for the worst.

"From all the readings, it shows that these weren't just random sporadic rifts that were occurring. They were all uniform and evenly apart from one another. Which means that someone had to have been making them on their own." John continued to explain.

"So...what does that mean?" Rose asked, puzzled.

"It means someone's in a lot of trouble." The Doctor answered as he ran a hand through his hair.

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><p><p>

The house had not been built to hold many people. Amy and Rory had long since gone to bed and claimed the guest bedroom. John and Rose obviously had their own and had decided to call it a night 20 minutes after they'd returned. Which meant that the Doctor had 2 options: stay up all night in John's study to go over everything again, or stay with River in the front room while she slept. Being a Time Lord he didn't sleep like humans did, so either way he'd have to do something to keep himself busy the remainder of the night.

He was at a loss of what to do. He'd already been brought up to speed on all of the rift information from both John and River, so he really didn't need to read over everything once more. They'd been able to trace where the first sightings had occurred and had a plan to check it out the following day. He could read one of the many books John had in his study, but he'd most likely already read them all at some point in his life. He'd make tea, but River would have been out in the front room and he didn't want to potentially wake her if she was asleep.

He was too caught up in his thoughts to notice a figure standing in the doorway, "Doctor?"

He shot his head up, not realizing he'd been staring at the ground, and found River leaning up against the nearest wall.

"Hmm?" He rubbed his eyes. Though he didn't sleep much, he still felt exhausted.

"Something wrong? You look deep in thought." She folded her arms.

"Deep in thought doesn't necessarily mean that something is wrong." He corrected her.

"It does when it's you." She yawned.

"You're tired. You should get to bed."

"Same goes for you." She smiled and twirled one of her locks of hair around her finger.

"I don't sleep much. I'm sure you know that." The Doctor crossed one of his legs and leaned back in the seat he was sitting on.

"Right. Well then, have a good night Doctor. I'll see you in the morning." River paused for a moment as she turned to leave, for a second the Doctor thought she would say something else, but then she kept walking. Leaving the Doctor alone in his thoughts once more.

His mind was racing a million miles a second as he tried to decide what to do. There wasn't anywhere left to sleep other than the front room. A couple uncomfortable chairs and a couch for one. "It's not like you'd be doing anything with her." He mumbled to himself.

His hearts started to pound in his chest the more he thought of staying the night even in the same vicinity as River. He weighed his options and watched as the clock slowly ticked by.

He sat there feeling his stomach do flip flops and listening to his heartbeats echo in his ears. The Doctor imagined what it would be like to just sleep next to her. Wondering what it would be like to feel her body next to his, together keeping each other warm.

He swallowed a lump in his throat.

He started to wonder what it would be like to hold her, to be able to breathe in the scent of her hair, and run his hands through the mess of it all. He wanted so badly to be able to kiss her goodnight, and cuddle. He'd never done anything like that in a very long while, and from the moment of accepting his feelings for her, he'd wanted to just hold her for as long as possible.

When he looked at the time he wondered if she'd still be awake. It had been only 10 minutes since she'd gone to bed, and he hoped that maybe she'd still be awake.

Making up his mind, he quickly but quietly made his way to where she'd be. His hearts picked up pace as he got closer, and he could feel his body temperature rising. His breathing started to pick up as well, and as he rounded the corner he thought he might chicken out and turn around.

The sight that awaited him was breath taking, for him at least.

River had claimed the couch as her own and was stretched out as much as possible. Her hair surrounded her in one giant mess, and a few curls covered the right side of her face. She looked so peaceful, and the Doctor had to remind himself that it _was_ in fact River.

He was so used to seeing the cheeky, flirtatious side of her, that he was slightly taken aback by the innocent side to her. He smiled and slowly tip toed over to her. He was afraid the sound of his breathing and heartbeats would wake her up, but he wanted to be as close as possible.

He kneeled down next to her and took in the view even more.

One arm was dangling off the side of the couch, while the other was draped across her stomach. Her lips were parted slightly and the Doctor listened to her breathing. The look and sound of her was soothing.

Lightly he moved the arm hanging off the couch back onto her stomach and he held her hand. He stroked his thumb over her knuckles and drew swirls on the top of her hand. He used his free hand to push her hair out of her eyes. It didn't really matter since she was sleeping, but he wanted to look at the rest of her face. She was so angelic looking, and he couldn't help but smile when he looked at her.

"You're the most beautiful sight I've seen." He whispered as he adjusted to a more comfortable position to sit in. "And I've seen quite a few sights, so that's definitely saying something."

He paused for a moment a looked down at his hand holding hers. "I'm sure if you heard me right now you'd just call me an old romantic." He smirked, "But it's true when I say it, River you're the most amazing woman I've met. There's so much I still don't know, but I've never felt this way before. I don't know what to call it, I'm sure Amy would call it some crush that kids get...but it's so much more than that, River. _You're_ so much more than that. I've always had my companions become infatuated with me in one way or another, but that's not what it's like with you." He smiled again.

The Doctor leaned forward and placed a small kiss on her forehead, nose, and lips. When he opened his eyes, he was met with hers looking back up at him lovingly. He jumped and felt his cheeks flare up and his hearts felt as though they'd stopped momentarily. His voice cracked as he spoke, "River! You're awake! I, uh, I was just, were you awake the whole time? You were weren't you?" He quickly let go of her hand, running his hand through his mop of hair.

River laughed, "It's kind of hard to stay asleep when someone keeps talking." She sat up and leaned forward, extending an arm out and gently running her finger down his cheek soothingly. He leaned in to the contact and closed his eyes. Too embarrassed to look at her.

The Doctor sighed, knowing there was no way to talk himself out of the situation. He opened his eyes and looked back at her. "Is it alright..." He trailed off and bit his lip, not sure how to ask the question.

"Is what alright, Sweetie?" She smiled.

"If I stay here...with you?" His hearts were beating so fast he wasn't sure if they could last any longer.

"Always." River nodded and scooted over on the couch. She lifted the blanket she was using, motioning for the Doctor to join her.

He took his jacket and braces off before sliding on to the couch next to her. She wrapped the blanket around him and put her back against the back cushions of the couch so she was facing the Doctor. He wasn't sure what to do with his hands, but found it as his opportunity to run his fingers through her hair.

River chuckled at his childlike curiosity. He was always so fascinated by her hair. The Doctor leant forward and buried his nose in the glorious mess of curls. He breathed in the scent of her hair, and she could feel him smile against her head. She let her heavy eyelids shut and scooted her head so it was against his chest. She fell asleep to the sound of his hearts.

The Doctor, though not usually one for sleeping frequently, found himself able to drift into a peaceful slumber fairly easily. He wasn't sure if it was because of River, or due to the amount of stress from dealing with the rift. Either way, he pulled River's body as close to his as he could and held her protectively against him, afraid that if he let her go it would all just be a dream.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who © BBC_

_**Author's Notes: **I apologize for the long wait! Been swamped with homework, and we just had our internet shut off in our apartment. I'm currently using my school's internet to upload this. Anyway, moving more towards to main plot now that we've gotten through some main relationship issues. Time to get back to the premise of the story! Anyway, I always thought Rose and Amy would be the ones to get along out of the gang. They both have quite a bit in common, in my eyes at least, so I thought I'd play with that for this chapter. It was also requested that these two were the ones to find the sleeping Doctor and River together! ;-) Enjoy! Made it a bit longer to make up for the wait. Thank you everyone for reading and reviewing!_

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><p><p>

The distinctive blaring of the alarm clock echoed throughout the room. Rose groaned as she rolled over, eyes blinking rapidly as she tried to adjust to the light of the morning. Though it wasn't extremely bright, the shift from complete blackness to somewhat light still caused her to squint.

She moved to hit the snooze button, only to find that the alarm had decided to roll off the side table and hide someplace else. John had seen an ad about a new alarm clock that had wheels attached to it, and would roll about the room to different spots. It was meant to get the owner up and out of bed, each day finding a new hiding spot so it took longer to find. John, being John, figured it'd be simpler to make his own version. Of course he _always_ managed to sleep through any kind of alarm, so it was always Rose who had to get up.

She sat up abruptly and threw the covers off of her. Stubbing her toe on the leg of the bed frame as she swung her legs out, she cursed and began looking high and low for the bloody clock. She wondered if she could accidentally break it and buy a proper one instead.

Though she loved her enthusiastic human Doctor, she sometimes wished he didn't have all of the alien qualities of the original Time Lord.

"Ah ha! Found you now, you bugger!" Rose quietly exclaimed as she found the device hidden under a pile of John's old socks. It automatically stopped beeping as soon as she touched it and a wave of relief washed over her.

She looked over to her sleeping heap of human Doctor, and smiled. She figured a nice cup of tea would do him some good. She vaguely remembered being on the TARDIS and how the Doctor never seemed to sleep. He'd told her it was due to him being a Time Lord and such, she couldn't remember much of what he'd said. But she had to admit, she loved having a human version of him that she could actually spend a whole night with, though sometimes she thought he milked out every second of sleep he could get.

Rose quickly put on some more appropriate clothes, sweat pants and sweat shirt, and began to make her way out to the kitchen, carefully closing the bedroom door behind her. She turned around and a flash of red hair swept across her vision, and she narrowly missed bumping into Amy. She forgot the married couple had occupied their guest bedroom, which was directly across the hall from the master bedroom.

"Oh sorry about that!" Rose whispered.

"Yeah, no problem. Figured I'd get up...Rory's snoring woke me up." Amy yawned as she too closed the door slowly behind her.

"I was just about to make up a pot of tea, it seems to be the only thing that wakes John up. You want some?" She asked the red head as they tip toed down the hallway toward the stairs.

Amy nodded and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she followed Rose. She was too tired to keep up a conversation, at least until she'd gotten some caffeine into her system. The floorboards creaked as they started down the stairs. The house wasn't necessarily old, but it had enough years in it to show. A stillness in the air that left a peaceful, easy feeling amongst the two, and they both were content with not speaking.

Rose stepped off the bottom step and walked almost robotic like towards the kitchen. She passed by the front room and almost payed the figure lying on the couch no attention, but it seemed far too...awkward shaped, to be the Doctor or even River for that matter. Something inside was screaming at her not to look over, but by the time she turned her head it was too late to stop the motion. Her breath caught and it felt as though her heart stopped momentarily.

Instinct told her that the shape she'd seen on the couch couldn't have been just the Doctor, or River. In fact it was _both_ of them. Their legs were tangled together in a big mess, and River was lying slightly on top of the Doctor, with her head resting on his chest. One of her arms was draped lazily over his stomach, and the Doctor looked to be holding her tightly around her waist and middle of her back. She wasn't sure if it was because she didn't want to find him looking at her, or if she was afraid to see him sleeping peacefully, but Rose was thankful to find the Doctor's head turned away facing the back of the couch.

She directed her attention forward once more and quickened her pace into the kitchen where she let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Amy entered almost directly after she had, and Rose wondered how long she'd been staring at the two. She began rummaging through cupboards and drawers, trying to keep busy.

"Hey, thanks again for letting us stay here." Amy jarred her out of her thoughts and Rose jumped slightly.

"Oh, yeah, yeah. It's no problem at all." She flashed a smile at her as she filled a pot up with water.

Amy pulled out a chair and it squeaked as it scratched against the floor. She flopped herself down and stretched, trying to wake herself up. Another silence fell over the two of them for a couple of minutes. Rose had occupied one of the seats across the table from the red head, and tried to process everything she'd just seen. She wished it was all just a dream. She wished everything the Doctor had told her the previous night was a dream.

Curiosity started to get the better of her, "Hey, Amy?" She spoke low so not to wake the Doctor and River up.

"Mmm?" Amy grunted in response.

"Um...well, I was wondering..." Rose started fidgeting with her sweatshirt, "Are...are the Doctor and River..." She trailed off, not wanting to ask a question she'd regret getting the answer she knew was coming.

"You want to know if they're together?" Amy raised an eyebrow and smiled. She knew Rose loved him, it was quite obvious by how she'd been acting when they first got to her world. The fact she was with the human version of the Doctor also helped as a dead give away.

"...I know they're not married, River already said they weren't, but...I don't know...It's just. Hard. Do you know what I mean?" Rose looked up at her, searching her face for answers.

Amy gave her an encouraging smile. "Yeah. I do." She paused. "But to be honest, about your question I mean...I really don't know. It's so hard to keep track of those two. It's all back to front for them."

"Yeah, the Doctor was telling me about all of that."

"I'm sure he didn't tell you everything." Amy smirked. "Rule One: the Doctor lies. Or strays from the whole story, which in most cases can be put into the same category." She chuckled slightly and then sighed. "River and the Doctor have...a very complicated relationship. And I don't mean as in 'dating' or anything." She added in quickly. "Rory told me when he'd been alone with River, she was telling him about her and the Doctor. They're both time travelers. But they keep meeting in the wrong order, as the Doctor would say, it's all timey wimey...We never know what version of River we'll get, and we have to keep an eye on what we all say. Especially those two. Spoilers, as River would say."

She was interrupted by the whistling of the tea pot. Rose jumped up and got together cups for everyone. She nodded for Amy to continue.

"We're lucky, this version of River is one we've already met before...but, for her..." Sadness washed over Amy as the words she spoke started to sink in, "For River, Rory was saying, every time she meets us, she knows us more..and we know her less. From her perspective at least.."

"So, when you say, they're back to front..." Rose began.

"I mean that they're going in opposite directions. One day, River will meet a version of the Doctor that doesn't know her. And, from there, I'm not sure." She shrugged. "My guess is that it'll be the last time she sees him. He can't cross his own timeline, and vice versa. River's already done that in order for us to figure out this whole rift thing...which means who knows how many times she'll see the Doctor before it's her last time." Amy stared down at the floor as she finished.

"And, what about you? What happens when she first meets you? I know you guys raised her, kind of, as kids...but...what about the Doctor?"

Amy felt tears well up briefly, and she blinked them away. "We...we just got done meeting a version of River that didn't know the Doctor...And, honestly, I don't know if this is going to be the last time I see her. We just...left her at some hospital the Doctor knew would keep good care of her. He said she'd eventually come looking for us. But..." She sighed and clapped her hands to her knees. "Best not talk like that, eh? Is the tea done? I think I might take some up for Rory."

"Oh, right, sorry. I almost forgot about that." Rose went and checked on the brewing tea. "Still a couple more minutes, if that's alright?"

Amy nodded.

Rose leaned against the counter as she waited for the tea to finish. She wondered why River was left in a hospital, but figured she should keep her questions to herself. Amy seemed to be going through her own stuff, and she had a feeling if she were to add her own drama in, she'd just overwhelm the poor girl. Though she did have one left that she couldn't help but blurt out.

"So how did you first meet the Doctor?"

Amy snorted, "I met him when I was a little girl. Bloody man changed my life forever." She mumbled the last part.

"Seriously? You've known him your whole life?" Rose asked astonished. She never knew him to stay in someone's life for more than a year or so. To finally meet someone who'd known him longer was almost unbelievable.

"Kind of. I met him once as a kid, and then he...kind of...turned into my imaginary friend." She started laughing.

Rose laughed with her. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, he went into his TARDIS and was going to fix something. He said he'd be back a few minutes later but ended up not showing up for another 12 years. So in between then people told me he was just my imaginary friend, until I started to believe them. That's, of course, until he showed up again." Amy smiled. "It's embarrassing to think about." She covered her face with her hands and laughed.

"So is this right after you met him again?" Rose was referring to Amy's current timeline.

"Oh no, it's been..." She paused as she reflected back on how much time had passed. "A good few years since then. Rory and I were only dating when the Doctor showed back up, and now we're married. We both traveled with him for a little bit, lots of stuff in between, and then he and I eventually were on our own for a bit until we got a letter. It was from the Doctor and so we went and met up with him, and been traveling again ever since. That was a good while ago too." Amy kept out everything about the Doctor's death, the end of the universe already happening, and how Rory had been erased from time and then brought back as a Roman Centurion.

Rose's eyes were wide as she took in all the information. "Wow..that's..."

"I know." Amy chuckled. "So what about you?"

Rose was jarred out of her thoughts as she reflected back on her own life with the Doctor. "Oh let's see...goodness that was a long time ago. Well, when I still lived in your world, it was back in 2005 when I first met him. That was 2 regenerations ago too! He was completely different from the Doctor now. Back then he had a shaved head and wore a leather jacket." She snorted

Amy's eyebrows shot up and her mouth hung open. "Oh god, better or worse style sense than what he has going on now?"

Rose pursed her lips in thought, "Eh, bit better. Suited him at the time. But yeah, so I traveled with him for a year or so. I was dating someone at the time, living a somewhat boring life working in a shop, still living with my mum. It was strange and exciting when I first went with him. First place he took me to was the end of the world for planet Earth. That was..." She held her hands out in front of her. "Strange. Very strange! Lots of other adventuring, and then he regenerated after a bad encounter with the Daleks. Traveled with that version of the Doctor for awhile, looked exactly how John looks now, and then there was lots of other stuff in between. Got trapped in this world, thought I'd be stuck here forever, found the Doctor again, and then when John came about, he brought us back to this world." She summed everything up quickly.

"How long has it been since you've seen the Doctor then?" Amy ventured.

"Last time was a good few years ago. Time in this world progresses faster than in your world." Rose answered. She looked at the clock, "Oh! The tea!" She quickly set everything up and poured a couple of cups for, she figured it was safe to say, her newly acquired friend. "Here you are." She handed them over and smiled.

"Thanks." Amy smiled back. "For everything, I mean. I haven't had someone to talk to like this in a very long while."

"Yeah, same here." She nodded.

The red head shuffled out of the room and back down the hall. As she passed the front room and peered in, she noticed only River lay on the couch. The Doctor was seated on the floor with his head buried in his hands. She knew there would be lots for the Doctor to sort out on his own, especially after being found snuggling up to her daughter, and worse, in the house of a woman who was still in love with him. But she figured that could wait. They all needed to get moving on fixing the rift before it got any worse.

She cleared her throat to get his attention, "Hey, you two best get up. There's some tea in the kitchen."

The Doctor nodded and moved to wake up River. Amy was about to head back up the stairs when she turned around and added, "Oh, and Doctor. You're lucky Rory didn't catch you." She smirked as she saw a blush creep across the Doctor's face.

* * *

><p><p>

It was 9:53 am by the time everyone had left the house. Rose had managed to borrow a van from one of her neighbours and everyone had piled in and were headed to the place they'd determined as the starting point of their investigation.

Rose and Amy had kept quiet about the Doctor and River cuddling up just hours prior, and were focussed on the task at hand.

"So what exactly are we doing again?" Rory asked.

"We're going to figure out the cause of these rift thingies." Amy answered and patted his leg.

"Right, I get that. But how do we know where to go again?"

River was the one to answer him, "John and I were able to plot out some key points on where they seem to be coming from. The first ones were a bit too scattered to figure out where exactly, but when we looked at more recent findings we could plot out a general area on a map. There were a few buildings around the areas we were looking that may possibly hold where it's all coming from."

"Right, ok. So how do you know it's coming from just one area? Rory furrowed his brow.

"These things shouldn't be happening, which leads me to believe that they aren't naturally made. The way they've all been happening so far have been very methodical and all plotted out precisely. So, if they're man made, then where else to hold whatever it is that's causing them, than in a large building?" John exclaimed, sounding excited.

"Ah, right." Rory nodded. "Why do I get the feeling you're both excited about this?" He referred to John and the Doctor.

"What's not to be excited about?" They both answered in unison.

"Well, for one, the fact that it could rip the world apart." Rory mumbled.

"What was that?" The Doctor asked as he popped his head between Rory's and Amy's.

"Nothing."

The Doctor smirked and patted him on the back of the head. Amy giggled.

"Oi, before we go too far I think we should stop back at the TARDIS. Check and see if the old girl is up and running again." The Doctor added in as they turned down one of the streets marked on their route.

"Maybe we should go in separate groups? Cover more ground?" Rose looked back in the rear view mirror. She'd been the one who offered to drive.

"Ooo I like that idea!" The Doctor perked up and bounced slightly in his seat. River rolled her eyes and held him down. "Who should go with who? And do we get cool communication devices and code names?"

Amy, Rory, and River all groaned at the same time. "Enough with the code names, Doctor!" Amy scolded him.

"What? I liked the ones I gave you all last time. They were cool." He crossed his arms.

"The Nose is not cool." Rory looked back at him and pointed a finger at the Doctor.

"Ok, then what about the Lone Centurion?"

"Oh please don't bring that up again!" Rory banged his head against the window.

John and Rose looked at each other and shrugged.

"Ok, ok. What about Rory the Roman?" The Doctor suggested.

"Aren't code names meant to keep our real names secret?" Amy asked.

"Oh, good point. Right, then what about Roranicus? Wasn't that the name you went by back then?" The Doctor smirked as he leaned forward and put his elbows on the seat in front of him.

"Roranicus?" John asked, puzzled.

"Long story." Rory answered. "And no! Rory is fine."

"Alright, though I think we should leave the one used for River the same." He whispered to the married couple who both laughed.

"I heard that." River stepped on the Doctor's foot as a warning.

"Ow, ow, ow! Ok!" He laughed as she punched him on the arm playfully. "So, back to the first question, who will go with who?"

"How about John and Rory go together?" Rose suggested. The two nodded in agreement. "You and Amy?" Rose motioned to the Doctor and Amy who both nodded.

"Wait, so then that would leave..?" The Doctor gulped as he realized who Rose was purposefully pairing herself up with.

"River and me." Rose answered as she looked back at the curly haired woman.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Disclaimer:** Doctor Who © BBC_

_**Author's Note: **Alright, another long one! There will be more interactions between Rose and River, don't worry! This isn't it! And to answer the questions of will this turn into a Doctor/Rose fic: It's submitted into the Doctor/River category for a reason ;-)_

* * *

><p>The Doctor had faced many challenges in his past. He'd battled Daleks and stopped Cybermen, both at the same time on a few occasions. He'd gone up against the Weeping Angels and Sontarans. He'd faced many demons, and had even faced the devil himself. Lost great battles, and won countless others. The many friends he'd made over the years had come and gone, and some he even had to watch die. He'd stopped the end of the world from happening, and had also been the cause of it. However, the one thing the Doctor had absolute no control over, was an epic battle between Rose Tyler and River Song.<p>

Letting the two partner up for their mission was something he wanted to interfere with, but he knew he had no power over. Who knew the kinds of chaos the two would create as they fought over him? At least that's what his ego was telling him. He'd weighed the potential that they could possibly become friends and get along quite well, considering the circumstance...however that thought was properly shoved aside as he remembered their banter when they'd first arrived.

_This is a very **not** good idea. Very bad indeed! _He thought to himself as he chewed on his bottom lip. He was brought out of his thoughts by the shaking of his arm, and the faint sound of someone talking.

"Doctor?"

"Huh? Yes? What is it?" His head darted up and River was sitting faced towards him, studying his face. One of her eyebrows raised and a noticeable smirk played across her lips. Oh god those lips...

"Is that alright with you?" River asked and batted her eyelashes playfully.

"Yes, of course it is." He answered quickly, straightening his bow tie. He looked about the van at the faces staring back at him. Rory was shaking his head slightly and Amy was also smirking. He looked back at River and frowned. "What?"

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?" The smug look never left her face as she spoke.

"Er...Not exactly..." The Doctor admitted and River shook her head laughing. He watched her hair dance as each curl bounced. Oh god how he wanted to run his fingers through them again. He smiled as he remembered how they felt, how sweet they smelled.

The Doctor was once again brought out of his thoughts as the van came to an abrupt halt. He fell forward and hit his head against the seat in front of him. He grumbled as he looked up at Rose and glared. No doubt she'd been keeping a close eye on them and decided to slam on the brakes. She smiled innocently back at him.

"We're here." Rose announced as she motioned out towards the Torchwood headquarters of her world. "I'll go get the communicators and from here we can all split up. Sound good?" She hopped out of the van before anyone could answer her and ran inside.

The rest of the gang emptied out of the doors and stretched. The ride hadn't been long, but they all weren't used to regular driving after growing accustomed to flying in the TARDIS. A few minutes later and Rose emerged from the building with an assortment of supplies with her.

"Ooo what's all that?" The Doctor asked giddily, almost hopping in place.

"These are the communicators I was able to grab. Fairly simple, they just clip around your ear and are controlled with these dials on the side." She passed them out to everyone and showed the buttons, which lit up as she touched them. "This one controls the volume, just slide the little lever up or down. It'll lock in place so you won't have to worry about it turning down on its own." She demonstrated. "The one to the left of it will connect it to the rest of them, that way we'll all be on the same frequency and no outside party can listen in on our conversations. We all just need to synch them real quick, so hold it down until all the lights turn blue." Once all the lights were the same Rose continued. "Last is the mute button on the end. Tap it once to mute it, twice to un-mute. You'll still be able to listen in on everyone else, but no one will be able to hear you, so don't forget to un-mute it when talking."

They all attached them and got used to the controls, muting them and making sure everything else worked properly.

"Right, what's all of that?" Amy asked as she looked at everything else Rose was holding.

"Just some essentials for investigating abandoned buildings. Flashlights, maps, and a few other tools I've put in these packs." She handed them the satchels to look around as belts.

River declined the bag and pointed down to the one strapped around her waist already, "I came prepared." She smiled.

"Oh, ok..have you had that on you the whole night?" Rose asked, not remembering her wearing it when she'd first seen her. Though, she had to admit, she wasn't exactly paying attention to what she was _wearing_ and more with how she was _being_ around the Doctor. _Definitely being all flirty that's for sure.. _Rose thought to herself.

"When doesn't she have it, is more like it." The Doctor interjected and removed only what he needed from the bag. The maps that Rose referred to were actually stored inside of a watch, which produced a hologram of where they were located. Little green dots indicated everyone in the group with red ones surrounding them.

Rose noticed the Doctor examining them, "I programed them to show each of us as green and any other life source as red. That way we'll know where everyone is, and if there's anyone else nearby we can sneak around them easier."

"Brilliant!" The Doctor exclaimed and flashed a toothy grin. "Look at you! Miss Tyler, Professional Defender of _Pete_!"

"Pete?" Amy and Rory asked in unison.

"Didn't John call it Earth yesterday?" Amy asked. "Actually, forget I asked. I have a feeling there's a long explanation.."

Rose nodded and continued, "Right, enough chatting. We should all get a move on. Doctor, is it alright if you and Amy leave from here to get to the TARDIS? It's in the opposite direction of where we're headed."

"Yeah, no problem." The Doctor answered for them both. "You're sure you'll be alright?" He was referring to Rose and River. He looked back and forth between the two, hoping one of them would cave and switch partners. He could feel the end of the world nearing at rapid speed as he awaited their answers.

"We'll be fine." The two women answered at the same time. They had fake smiles plastered on as they looked at each other.

"Right then...End of the world, I welcome thee.." The Doctor said under his breath.

Everyone said their quick goodbyes as the rest of the group piled back into the van. Once again the Doctor had an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Something didn't feel right about the situation.

* * *

><p>"So did you talk to her at all?" The Scottish woman asked. They were a couple blocks away from the TARDIS, which she figured was enough time to get in some gossip-like small talk.<p>

"Who?" The Doctor asked and started to quicken his pace. Of course he knew who she was talking about, but he didn't want to bring any of the drama up. Why did women _like_ to get involved in such petty gossip?

"What do you mean _who_?" Amy rolled her eyes and jogged a little to catch up to him. "I'm talking about Rose! I know you heard us this morning, and don't try to deny it." She pointed a finger at him as he opened his mouth to protest.

"Alright, so what if I did hear you two. Why should I have gone and talked to her?" He asked without looking at her, and instead fiddled with the ends of his jacket.

"Well for one she's still hung up on you. I mean I know you went and talked to her last night, but that didn't seem to go over too well considering she found you and River this morning! And I'll say it again, you are _sooo_ lucky Rory didn't catch you two." Amy's eyes narrowed.

The Doctor felt a chill run down the back of his neck at the thought of waking up to Rory holding a sword to his throat for cuddling up to his daughter. Especially after the awkward conversation they'd all had on the TARDIS. "I told her what I needed to, what she chooses to do after that is her doing, Amy. I can't make her do something she doesn't want to do. Which includes getting over her feelings for me. Which I must admit I wasn't expecting her to still have after giving her the human version of me.." He quickly added in at the end.

"Wait so you just dumped the human you and Rose off in this world and expected her to just get over you?" Amy asked, shocked. Not at his actions, but at the fact he thought it would be so simple for one of his companions to just 'get over' him. It'd taken herself plenty of time before her infatuation with him passed. She could only imagine what it must have been like to be dumped off in a parallel universe, knowing full well there was no way to get back to the person she loved. No wonder Rose was still so attached to him.

"Well when you say it like that..." He winced.

"Seriously, Doctor, you're so terrible when it comes to women.." She shook her head.

"Do I still need to talk to her?" The Doctor whined after a few minutes of silence.

"Depends on what happens between her and River. My guess is that Rose wanted more closure or something, which is why she picked to go with her." Amy shrugged.

The Doctor stopped walking and slapped his forehead, "Oh god what have I gotten myself into?" He groaned.

* * *

><p>Back at the van, Rose and River were dropping off Rory and John at the first location. The place looked deserted, just as they'd suspected it would, but they were still being cautious about where they parked just in case. The building itself looked rundown and rusted out. Windows were shattered, and no light seemed to be shining into them. The perimeter of the area was fenced off, but even the fencing itself was falling apart. Nothing said creepy and abandoned, well, none other than creepy and abandoned.<p>

"Geez, this place is really run down, isn't it." John stated more than asked as he opened the door. Rory swung open the side door and climbed out of the vehicle as well.

"You sure you two will be alright going to the other one on your own?" Rory asked as he looked back in to River and Rose. The father side of him had kicked in and he was feeling more protective over his daughter, even though she was much older than he was. Deep down he knew she could protect herself, especially considering she'd been raised to be a psychopath killer, but he still allowed his father-ness to take over on occasion.

"Oh, Rory we'll be fine. Stop being such a dad, will you?" River gave him a reassuring smile.

"Sorry, it kind of comes naturally. Can't really stop it." He smiled sheepishly, "You be careful though." He ordered in his dad voice.

"Aye-aye." River saluted him as he shut the door.

"Same goes for you." John was talking to Rose.

"I'll be fine. _You_ watch out for yourself." Rose smiled at John as he shut the door. The two women watched as both men climbed through an opening in the fence and started walking in towards the building.

Rose started the van up and circled around, heading in the direction of the second building. It was located a couple miles down from the first, which meant it wouldn't take long for the two to get there. They sat in silence for few minutes, watching the scenery pass them by.

River started rummaging through her bag and began organizing her supplies on the seat. She'd stayed in the back in order to have enough room to sort through everything.

"What's all that?" Rose asked straining her neck as she tried to get a better look in the mirror.

"My _essentials_." River said as she pulled out various items.

"Lipstick? I didn't take you as the, uh...well, girly type." Rose said as she spotted the tube roll out onto the seat.

"Ah, wouldn't go anywhere without it." River winked at her. "But it isn't any _ordinary_ lipstick." She stressed her words as she carefully stuck the tube in her cleavage. For easy access, of course.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, you'll see." The older woman said and began putting some of the items back in the bag.

Rose was about to ask another question when the Doctor could be heard in their ear pieces.

"River! You'd better not have done anything with my TARDIS!"

_Oh lovely, a grumpy Doctor.. _The curly haired blonde thought to herself as she rolled her eyes, turning the mute on hers off, "Sweetie, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"It's not here! That's what I'm talking about!"

"Are you sure you're in the right place?" She sounded like an annoyed guardian looking after a forgetful child.

"Of course I'm sure! I'm exactly where we left it, and it's_ not here!_ Amy, tell her!" The Doctor whined.

A clicking noise sounded and Amy's voice was heard, "It's true. It's not here. I thought maybe it was all invisible again, but there's literally nothing here." She clicked her mute back on.

"See!" The Doctor said, trying to prove his point. River imagined him stomping his foot on the ground for emphasis.

"What?" River asked, hoping they were both kidding. It was then that she remembered she'd been the last to leave the TARDIS. She'd run back in to get some of her papers and had left the door open. In the heat of the moment, after being introduced to Rose and John, she'd forgotten to close the door and lock it.

"River, are you even listening?" She was brought out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm listening." She said as she smacked her forehead.

"Oh...River...Don't tell me..." Realization dawned on the Time Lord as well, and she could imagine him hitting his head against the nearest tree.

"It'll be fine, Doctor. Just meet up with us at one of the buildings. We'll find her, I promise." River clicked the mute on again and rubbed the temples of her forehead. There was silence and she figured the Doctor had also turned his mute on.

"Everything alright?" Rose asked. Part of her felt joy bubble in her stomach, in what she hoped was River messing something up, but at the same time she was worried that something bad was in the works.

"Bloody brilliant, is what it is." River snarled as she pulled out her infamous gun from of the bag, along with its holster to strap around her waist.

Rose's eyes widened and she gulped.

* * *

><p>"Well isn't this just fantastic!" The Doctor yelled to no one as he marched off in the direction everyone was located.<p>

"Doctor! It'll be fine! I'm sure she didn't mean to do it!" Amy hollered after him as she tried to catch up. He was tough to keep track of when he was emotional... She didn't know how River handled him so well.

"Wait a second." The Doctor stopped walking abruptly, causing Amy to almost run into him. He spun on his heel and ran back to where the time machine had been. "I'm missing something. Something that's staring me right in the face." His eyes darted around the area trying to spot what he hadn't before.

"Doctor, what are you looking at? Shouldn't we get back to the others? I'm sure they'll be waiting for us.." Amy sighed and crossed her arms.

"Shut up, I'm thinking." He walked around a few times and then stopped, staring forward and looking out of his peripheral vision. "Ah, ha!" He exclaimed! He yanked out his sonic and pointed it to the side of where he was looking.

There was a loud popping noise before Amy was finally able to see what the Doctor had spotted.

"Wait, how did that get there? It wasn't there before." She asked, confused.

"Perception filter." The Doctor said as he twirled his sonic in the air and caught it, showing off. "Changes what you see. I didn't notice it at first, but I knew something as big as the TARDIS couldn't have just been carried off so easily. Ha! Sneaky bugger!"

Amy stepped closer and looked at the device on the ground. "It almost looks like one of those transportation pad things used in Star Trek."

"That's because it is. Though transportation pad, isn't it's technical term. But it'll suffice." The Doctor said. He scanned it again with the sonic. "Yep, definitely used to teleport the TARDIS to some other location. My guess, is one of those buildings. Care to find out?" The Doctor held out his hand to Amy who looked wary about grabbing it.

"How do you know that's where it is? And are you sure it's not some trap? We won't get zapped to death or anything?" She walked around the pad a couple times.

"It's fine! Where else would they take the old girl to, eh? Now, come along Pond!" He offered his hand again. This time she reluctantly grabbed it and stepped onto the pad with him. He used his sonic to activate it and Amy felt it pull her body left and right as they dematerialized instantly.

* * *

><p>"Where did you get that!" Rose yelled back at the woman holding the gun.<p>

"I brought it with me, and don't worry I'm not going to shoot you!" River said as she put it securely in the holster.

"Why do you even have a gun _with_ you?" Rose had used multiple guns before on her quest to get back to the Doctor, years before, but she couldn't believe the Doctor would willingly let someone carry a weapon on board the time machine. He'd always been so uptight about keeping weapons out of the scenario, so she didn't know what to think as soon as she'd seen River's gun.

"Why not? They're more fun." She winked at the younger blonde.

"Does the Doctor know you have a weapon on you?" Disgust dripped off of each word.

"I'd be surprised if he didn't." River answered honestly.

"You expect me to believe he would _let_ you have a gun on you? He hates guns, and _especially_ people that have them." Rose retorted as she rounded a corner rather harshly.

River barely held herself up, "I never said I expected you to believe anything. And maybe that was the Doctor then, but the Doctor _now_ doesn't mind too much about weapons. He may not use them himself, but he's a lot less stingy about them."

"Ok, so say you're right, why would you bring one with you anyway?" Rose slammed on the brakes as she pulled up to the second building. River was more prepared, and was able to hold herself in place fairly well.

"Because I choose to! Do I really need to explain myself? Why does it bother you so much?" River yelled, anger starting to boil in the pit of her stomach.

"Just...never mind, forget it. Sorry I brought it up." Rose ended the conversation sharply and opened the door. She grabbed the keys from the ignition and slammed the door behind her after she jumped out. River closed the door behind her after she got out of the van as well.

The two walked in silence until the made it into the second dark and run down building. Both of them had an eery feeling they were being watched, but there was absolutely no one around. The watches they had, showed no other life forms other than themselves.

Their little argument forgotten, they looked at each other as they walked in the entrance. They looked around the open space. It looked to be an abandoned warehouse, with no power on whatsoever.

The sound of their footsteps echoed off of the rusted metal, and they looked around the perimeter. Nothing was in sight. No person, or even some kind of machine to power the building. Had they been duped into thinking this was the place that they needed to be?

They made their way into the opening of the building and River did a final sweep of the perimeter as they became enclosed in darkness. Something was off.

"You get the feeling that someones watching us?" Rose whispered as she turned on her flashlight and shone it around the room. Reflections of cobwebs, and rats scurrying about were the only things she saw. A shiver ran down her body.

"That's because, I'm fairly certain we are." River said as she too turned on her flashlight and had it shining on a surveillance camera.

"Woah, how did you see that?" Rose asked sounding impressed.

"I've had...training, so to speak." River answered as she turned her ear piece on again. "John, Rory, keep on the look out for surveillance cameras. This place is filled with them." She said and shone her light on 5 other ones.

Before they could hear their response, a blood chilling scream and the Doctor's yelling broke through the communicators. "Amy! Leave her alone! _Amy!_"

"Doctor? What the hell is going on? What's happened!" Rory's voice demanded instantly.

"Rory, I'm _so_ sorry! It was a trap! They grabbed us as soon as we got here. We tried to escape, but then they took her. They took Amy! No, wait! Don't—" There was a crackling noise before there was complete silence on his end.

Rose and River exchanged a look, but before running back to the van, River pulled out her vortex manipulator and strapped it on. "Here, this is faster." She said and grabbed Rose by the wrist and placed it on her own. Before the younger woman could say anything, they dematerialized and were sent flying across time and space in a matter of seconds.

As they rematerialized in front of John and Rory, River looked at Rose and answered her question from earlier, "_This_ is why I carry a gun on me. God knows what other trouble the Doctor is about to get us all into." She smirked and grabbed everyone else as she pressed the button once more.


End file.
